I'm with Ukfreddybear on this one. I am a jaded 50 year-old who has seen his fair share of movies and I had several 'open-mouthed OMG' moments, most notably Smaug trashing lake town (just about the right length, this segment for me) the 'Galadriel kicks ass' moment in Dol Guldur, the Dwarf shield wall, pretty much any time the Elf army appeared en-masse and pretty much the whole battle itself.
I felt that Richard Armitage was absolutely brilliant throughout. His portrayal of Thorin is a standout of all 6 Middle Earth movies for me. Actually, the characterisation was pretty strong in the movie. I cared about Thorin. I cared about Fili and Kili too and Bilbo's moments with Thorin at the end were moving. Armitage excelled here, I thought.
I have no issue with the Legolas and Tauriel thing. Ok, it wasn't 'necessary' but did set up Legloas' role in the LOTR films perfectly. The only bit I disliked was the worm things. It would have been nice to see more of Beorn and the eagles, but maybe that'll be in the EE. I think I may actually buy the EE of this rather than just the cinema version, which I have done with the other two...
This movie also finally gave us the chance to see Elf and Dwarf armies kicking Orc ass - don't get me wrong, the battle scenes in the LoTR trilogy are superb, but...c'mon...this was dwarves and Elves...ELVES....!!!
Aside from being read The Hobbit in school when I was 10 ( a LONG time ago!
), The Silmarillion was my first foray into reading Tolkien as a teenager and I still get goosebumps when I read about Nirnaeth Arnoediad - this last movie finally game me something of a glimpse on screen of what that kind of battle might look like.
Finally, I really can't understand how some people can sit there during a movie like this and be analysing all the CGI - Dain CGI? Really? Ok...fine...maybe it's my dodgy old eyes... Didn't matter to me...all I saw was a dwarf lord smacking Orcs...just like it should be (well...aside from the pig...a bit too WFB that, but even so...) I was totally immersed from the first frame to the last. But anyway, each to his own.
If you didn't enjoy it, I feel genuinely sorry for you, as you'll likely never get another Tolkien movie in your lifetime. I pretty much certainly won't in mine...
Just like with GW, PJ takes a look of cr*p from a ton of people. He may not have done a
perfect job, but IMHO he has done a darned fine one. Personally, I applaud what he has done. He has given me a lot of pleasure over the 6 movies. Thanks PJ...
Now...c'mon GW...let's have some PROPER Elf spear & shield models (not those odd Glaive things...yuck!) and those warriors of Dain (in PLASTIC!!) Pretty please...
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