5 Major Problems With THE HOBBIT: BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES

AMC Movie News Editor-In-Chief John Campea lists off the 5 major problems with the new film THE HOBBIT: BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES

[alphacause]

My main issue  with The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies is that Peter Jackson used CG and green screen shooting, where practical effects like makeup and prosthetic, as well as outdoor shooting, would have given the film a more realistic feel. He melded CG and practical effects masterfully in The Lord of The Rings trilogy. Why did he break with this tried and true formula?  I am not one of those people that claims that practical effects are always better than CG. However, when your CG looks so glossy and the textures don't appear fully rendered, then they look like a cheap substitute for the real thing. Good CG should be indistinguishable from reality, especially on the budget that Peter Jackson is afforded. A good example of well done CG was Dawn of The Planet of Apes, which used CG in such a manner that it was nearly indistinguishable from the natural world. This latest Hobbit film, and the other two Hobbit films, looked far worse and less believable than the Lord of The Rings films, which are ten years old. The last Hobbit film looked so fake that it really took me out of the film. A franchise should improve its visual effects as time progresses. Jackson's over reliance on poorly done CG, and his substitution of outdoor shooting for sound stage green screen filming, actually makes the aesthetics feel cartoonish. In other films bad special effects are not a deal breaker. However, in a world of pure fantasy, as The Hobbit is, special effects that are not believable are a deal breaker. It would be the equivalent of watching a film, advertised as comedy, where every joke fell flat. 

[odavies]

This was the worst of the Hobbit films. Ridiculous enemies (giant worms, trolls on stilts), 5 minutes of Smaug, no closure for the citizens of Lake-town, no resolution for the Erebor arc, a Bolg that just refuses to die, gravity-defying Legolas, and who the fuck cares about the Arkenstone right?

[heisenberglannister]

I think The Desolation of Smaug was the best of the three but preety much agree with everything you said here

[JackChurchill]

Cut Azog, who wasn't in the book; cut Lauriel, who wasn't in the book; cut Aelfred, who wasn't in the book and cut the "Dragon sickness" which wasn't in the book... 
From the second film, cut the river battle; cut the Bard sub-plot; cut the Killi-poison sub-plot; cut the Smaug battle in the mountain...

And all of a sudden, you've enough material for one action packed, epic scale second part to the Two-parter Hobbit story.

The only reason there was enough material for three films is because of the amount of things they "Made Up" themselves; not expanding on the text; not referencing appendices; just Made Up.

A shame because they shot themselves in the foot. Where they could have made a classic and equal to LOTR, they made a "Financial success".

[DjVortex-w]

People have commented that the orcs die way too easily in this film, and I can't help but to agree. When an orc in full body armor is knocked out by a hobbit throwing a rock at him, that just breaks willing suspension of disbelief. Not even a normal untrained human in full body armor would be knocked out by that, not to talk about a battle-hardened orc who is naturally a lot stronger and tougher than a human. It just doesn't make sense and looks ridiculous.
(The rock-throwing is the most blatant example, but not the only one.)

[TheMagicRobot]

The Hobbit movies are to The Lord of the Rings as the prequel trilogy is to Star Wars.

[donovancastro]

Thorin was partially going mad by the end of the second film. It is the Arkenstone because it's resonating madness and corruption towards him. The essence of Smaug went into it. Morgoth probably made it as a weapon to grab people under his power. So that's how I understand it. The Arkenstone was created by Morgoth and it corrupts people who are too weak to resist its power and become servants later on to him. Thorin was in the vicinity of it and it was turning him into a version of Smaug. 

[tonypepperoni]

Yup this movie sucked a big one. Peter Jackson is progressively getting worse and worse with his films. Sorry have to say it I'm not just gonna like the guy because he did a good job with lotr. Okay I'll say king Kong was decent and had its moments but other than that what else has the guy done? Add some shitty exposition and unnecessary storyline to a very very short story? It just kept on dragging on and on until these hobbit movies were beyond saving. For some reason peter Jackson thought ohhh characters like Alfred and radagast and stupid bullshit like legolas doing three sixty no scope arrow shots after a back flip off of a tower will be fun to watch. NO! It just looks unbelievably stupid and we can all see how ridiculous it is. I really wanted to like this movie but I just couldn't whatsoever

[ZantofDarkness]

Now I thought this film got a hell of a lot right, a hell of a lot (Thorin going mad, Smaug death and Lake Town, Dol Guldor, Dain, Bard and Thanduil, the debating before the battle on who should get the gold, parts of the battle, most of Ravenhil and contrary to John, I thought the Azog/Thorin fight was far better and more emtionally hitting and character driven than any one on one fight in LOTR, but thats just me, and the ending part with Bilbo as well as many other things). BUT!

My main problem wasn't the CGi or the changes to the book or the other things most people complained about. It was the ending, lack of context and cutting of so many scenes. I was totally digging this film till about the half way point in the battle. It just became confusing and MANY characters got lost and many did NOT get proper closure or an ending. I felt like WB went in and took Sting and sliced the final 1/4 off the end of the movie for the sake of getting it under 2 and a half hours and getting more viewings. It would have been better at 3 hours for me and I think Jackson wanted that as well to tell the story he wanted to tell to properly conclude the story. Middle Earth films for me are best when they are at least 2 hours and 45 minutes. Its gives it enough time to develop and make the film its own. This film felt like the ending to DoS to be honest with the way the theatrical version panned out.

For a series this long with this many characters, a conclusion for each was needed like in ROTK. The only 3 that got proper closure was Bilbo, Gandalf and Legolas, ALL of whom we see in FOTR. There was no funeral for the Sons of Durin (apparently in the extended cut), no conclusion to the men of Dale and Bard (all they do is blow a horn), no conclusion to the elves of Mirkwood (Tauriel and Thranduil are just left on Ravenhill and thats it, what happened after?) and there was no conclusion to Dain, the dwarves (who we spent the whole three movies with pretty much), Radagast or Beorn (again heard some of those problems will be sorted in the EE).

And it was more the battle of the four armies than five, cos all the, awesome looking, Gundabad orcs did was turn up and get decimated by eagles, they showed up far too late and make no impact on the battle when they are seen earlier as this mighty Northern orc force with specially bread bats for war as Legolas puts it. I was expecting them to turn up and turn the tide as a final showdown with at least some of them along with the Dol Guldor orcs cornering the men, dwarves and elves around Dale and just when all hope is lost, the eagles come in with Beorn and save the day. All we got was them get feathers in their face and thats it. I hope some of that is changed a bit in the EE.

The battle ended far too abruptly and had very little context towards the end between the Ravenhill parts. Felt very messy for a Middle Earth finale to me. Far too many out of context battle scenes, and theres just a lot of stuff that was clearly cut. Its the editing thats the main problem in this film. Despite what people say, with the additions Jackson made, there was enough material for a 3 hours films (i.e the extended cuts). But like I said, it felt like WB got some Middle Earth sword and got into the cutting room and sliced a chunk of it off to lower the time. Its a shame cos now I have to wait 6 or more months for the ACTUAL version of the movie with the EE which is always the definitive edition of these films, LOTR or Hobbit.

I feel like Jackson was pressured into 1. not making it over 2 and a half hours cos of people complaining about the length of the previous two which I personally had no problem with, and 2. not making the ending drag on like people said it did in ROTK which again, it didn't at all to me. I REALLY hope this extended cut is as good and complete as they're saying cos as a huge fan of both the LOTR tilogy and the Hobbit films. I need conlcusion, more battle context, more Gundabad fighting Beorn and Eagles, more bats, more Dain and more Dwarves (the other 8 other than Balin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili and Thorin) and definetly more of those epic looking battle shots and scenes in the teaser trailer and even later trailers. Hopefully PJ is aloud to make the film he wanted and that I wanted (at least mostly) and not be restrained by studio chains for the EE. :)

Also yeah, Alfrid got far too much screen time, especially compared to the dwarves. Apparently he gets mauled (off screen) by a bunch of wargs in the EE who again were not anywhere in this film yet they were in the trailes several times. I feel like th EE will be a completely different movie in many ways. At least I hope it is.

[futgamersofficial]

First of all: Thorin does not get the dragon sickness only in the beginning of BOTFA. You can see it in the end of DOS that he is starting to get the dragon sickness. He is not letting Bilbo go out of erebor, and stopping him with his sword, when the dwarves are waiting outside the door Thorin says that they should give him more time. Instead he could have gone in there and helped Bilbo. Yes, he does that after a little bit, but that is because Balin tells him to do it. You can clearly see that he is starting to get the dragon sickness. 

Second of all: In the desolation of smug there is some parts with Thorin and Azog in it. for example in the beginning when Thorin meets Gandalf in Bree and they talk about Thrain. BTW You took a picture of Bolg when you talked about Azog the defiler.

And third of all: Stop complaining about every little thing that YOU don´t like. Just enjoy the movie as it is!

[archer]

I just saw the extended versions of the first two movies, and I gotta say, just like the original LOTR movies they are distinct improvements on the theatrical cuts. The editing and pacing were smoother and less abrupt and most of the plot holes were addressed with added materials. With the Hobbit extended versions, they actually felt SHORTER. I look forward to the Five Armies extended cut.

I don't even consider the theatrical cuts to be the actual movies anymore. The extended versions are so much better.

[BenEd]

My problems with this movie (although I still loved it)

1. 5 SECONDS OF BEORN?! He was perhaps the most interesting character of all, and in the book he kills Bolg. I was waiting for him to show up and save Legolas, so very disappointed there. I expect the extended edition will address this though.
2. Earth eaters. They look cool, but where did they go? Was it 5 o clock so they said "fuck it" and went home?
3. Many of the dwarves (Bifur and Bombur in particular) were given nothing to do, sometimes not even any lines. 
4. Alfrid should've either had a redeeming heroic moment (even an accidental one would of sufficed) or a comedic over the top death. As it stands all the time devoted to him was pretty much wasted.
5. Thranduil's change of heart regarding Tauriel/Kili's relationship was a bit too quick. "Your love isn't real lol... oh he's dead now? K yeah it was real".
6. Billy Connolly's CGI'd face. WHY?! It looked awful, what was the point?!
7. Thranduil mentioning Aragorn to Legolas. It was nice to hear the fellowship theme played afterwards, but again, why? "Son, there's this totally rad 10 year old you should go meet". (Aragorn claims to be 87 in The Two Towers so he must be 10ish here).
8. Tauriel should have been killed off. It isn't that I don't like her, far from it! But it would've made the Tauriel/Kili romance even more tragic, and would have been a brilliant motivator for Legolas. By having her survive it just raises the question why didn't she join the Fellowship? She's brave, a hell of a fighter and thanks to Kili's death has a score to settle, she SO would've joined.
9. "These bats are bred for a single purpose... for WARGH". Gack, that line was cringey.
10. Bard's kids being so welsh. When they called him "Da" my entire row laughed. This was during Smaug burning a town full of innocent people, it REALLY shouldn't have been funny.

Once again, I still loved this film :)

[Protantagonist]

I'm gonna get alot of hate but i actually enjoyed this movie alot. For me, the prequels were fun, exciting and enjoyable films to watch compared to LOTR. I feel LOTR was alot more of an epic drama.

[TheMamsies]

What they should have cut out to condense it into 2 films:
Shorten Radagast's scenes
Cut out the ridiculous Stone Giant battle
Shorten the Goblin Town scenes
Shorten the Forest scenes
Completely cut out Tauriel and Legolas (and that pains me to write)
Shorten the Mirkwood scenes
Cut out Kili's sickness
Shorten the Barrel Battle
Massively shorten the Lake Town scenes
Shorten the Dwarves vs Smaug Battle
And there you go :)

[exwhyz]

Thorin's return from dragon disease to normality was also too quick, without any apparent struggle. PJackson has already announced he will return to more Middle Earth movies in about 3-4 years.

[kristenmay]

I totally agree with him on #4. Alfred, who everyone hates, was given like 15 minutes of screen time; when we barely even saw 8/13 dwarves during the ENTIRE 3rd movie! I would also like to point out, that I counted, and Nori has like 4 lines in the WHOLE TRILOGY! I wanted to hear more from Bofur and Dwalin and all the rest who Peter Jackson has made me love! Also, I feel that Fili's death was rushed. It just happened, like they wanted to get it over with. I do LOVE the Hobbit and all the actors, it is like my favourite Trilogy ever still, and I will always watch it over and over again!

[amazingfantasy]

Well said, John. Personally I was bothered by the ridiculous love crap between Tauriel and that stupid dwarf. It didn't deter me from enjoying the film but it was one of those things that could've really been left on the editing room floor. 

[Drew]

Thorin started to go crazy at the end of the 2nd film obsessing over the stone the way everyone obsesses over the ring. 

[elgranqenk]

I did enjoy the movie, and I'm surely no movie reviewer, but I totally agree with John here. Especially with problem #5: I'd say the Hobbit saga didn't feel like a trilogy at all, they are more like a movie divided into three parts.

Also, I'd add 6th major problem: Too many sub-plots were unfinished. I know that probably all of them had a resolution, but we'll have to wait to the blu ray extended edition of the movie, and that's bullshit.

[royg]

One of the issues I had--aside from those mentioned in the video--was the use of the giant worms. If these worms are able to eat through the earth and let the Orcs and Uruks into to the battle, why didn't they just have them burrow into the mountain? It would have saved a lot of time and lives. And, okay, even if there were some reason they couldn't burrow directly into the mountain (dragon magic, perhaps?), why not at least use the worms to help decimate the other armies? They just used them to open tunnels and let them go? And how did the Orcs come to have control over them or even tell the worms where to go? My two cents.