So, credit where credit is due. Bilbo's departure scene was pretty good, except for the beginning which was stupid...oh, and the fact that it was more than a little jerkish of Bilbo to be sneaking off from his friends after all they had gone through together (to point out that Bilbo did not leave in this manner in the book, I suppose, doesn't count for anything anymore). Also, where Bilbo returns to Bag End was ok.
I would again praise Ken Stott as Balin, but he was in the film for so little time that it hardly seems worth mentioning...and the whole dragon sickness thing was so stupid as to poison everything it touched. I was also for the most part not impressed by Freeman in this film as his mannerisms really began to grate.
Everything else about this movie was utter garbage. Just like the second film it yet again was utter garbage on its own terms, even disassociated from the idea of it being an adaptation of Tolkien's book (which I wish from the depths of my soul that these films were disassociated from Tolkien's name).
JacksCo has no understanding of pacing and doesn't have the imagination or the skill to tell a good story on their own. That's why it enrages me so that they think they are so superior to him (and seem to sneer at him in several instances) when in reality they are not worthy to clean the mud from the bottom of his shoes.
I will cite some examples:
Pacing
Everything to do with Wormtongue Jr. (or I guess that should be Senior since Whatshisface would be older than Grima). Almost every time this character appeared on camera you could be certain that the scene would serve no particular purpose toward advancing the plot which bogs down the film.
The endless Bolg vs. Legolas fight. My word that got boring. It was not helped by the ridiculous and tedious setting of the fight. Worst of all, we've seen the LoTR we know Legolas
must survive! It is just a waste of our time.
To sum up my Pacing section, I would like to note my belief that the only reason why the Bilbo Departure scene mostly worked was because it was short and was one of the few scenes that was not dragged out beyond its natural lifespan.
Story
Tauriel, I must mention her. The whole thing was just so stupid.
Dragon sickness. Apparently incurable and comes with hallucinations. There was audible laughter in the theater (not by me) when Thorin fell into the imaginary molten gold pit (another scene that went on too long). Maybe laughter was what JacksCo was going for in this case?
The continual attempts by JacksCo to create tension by creating shallow problems between the good guys. In fairness, this is the same trick they have been using since at least RotK with Theoden (and I hated it then) but this time it just got to the point of childishness. In particular when the dwarves were marching to confront the orcs and it looked like the elves were just going to stand there and do nothing...until the last moment when they did their silly acrobatics.
Kili's death scene. I know some of you have spoken favorably about it, but I just don't see it myself. I think part of my problem was that it became just a part of that endless Bolg fight. Also, there was laughter in the theater when Kili was killed (again, not from me) and a cry of "kill her too" (I know what you are thinking...but that wasn't me either).
Azog's eye scare. I don't know if it is JacksCo's background in horror or what...but everyone and I mean
EVERYONE knew Azog was going to open his eyes and stab Thorin. Seriously, one can only shake one's head.
Makes me wonder why the public pays money to see this kind of crap...oh right, JacksCo latched themselves onto the name of somebody with actual talent and have been milking it for more than its worth.
Minor Points
Handy that nobody noticed Azog's command post being built in the middle of the night on Ravenhill...which according to movie geography would have been right in between the Mountain and Dale. So much for those sharp-eyed elves.
As
alatar noted
Armor is Useless.
I think there should also be a related trope called "Law of Diminishing Weapon" that states that the more broken the hero's weapon becomes the more deadly a fighter the hero is and cite Thorin as an example. (note, there may be such and I just didn't search for the right name. That's one of the problems I'm getting to have with tvtropes of late. They have reached the "getting too clever for their own good" stage of development).
It is getting awfully late where I live, so I think I will stop there except for one last thing...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eomer of the Rohirrim
Dearie, dearie me... so, achingly, a display of begging, usually reserved for bad comedians: "remember LotR? we did that! it was pretty good, eh?" Yes, we're all aware.
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I'm not sure that JacksCo themselves remember that they made LoTR because so many of the things that they do to try to create "tension" are completely invalidated by the fact that we've seen LoTR and know that whoever it is who is in danger (usually Legolas)
must survive!