iaria

It was okay.

• The best part of the movie for me: Thorin/Bilbo. I shipped the crap out of them after the first movie but the second left me meh. This movie brought that original love back - and then just kept piling it on. Holy crap, they were really freaking shippy! There were actually a couple times there that I found myself going "...and then they kissed?" The whole movie Bilbo was pretty much all about Thorin - his belief in him, his worry for him, him attempting to help Thorin (and everyone else). I loved it. I also loved his trust in Thorin, that even knowing how off Thorin was he still trusted him not to hurt him.

Specific moments:

- Bilbo trying to define what Thorin was to him - “Thorin was my...” and just not having the words when talking to Balin. Once he gets back home he tells the auctioneer that Thorin was "my friend" it really, really felt like 'friend' was not the word Bilbo was thinking of.

- The acorn scene! ♥ Just everything about that was amazing. The way that Thorin smiles at Bilbo as Bilbo talks about planting the acorn and remembering and the fondness on his face. Then Bilbo stops talking but Thorin keeps standing there, smiling and staring at him for so long.

- Thorin giving Bilbo the Mithril armour. Another amazing scene. The whole part where Bilbo changes into it as Thorin watches. Then there's Thorin taking Bilbo aside to confide his paranoia to him and the fact that of all his companions, including his oldest friends and his sister-sons, it was Bilbo he trusted most.

- Thorin's death scene. Sniff. The way Bilbo holds him, Thorin's last words, Bilbo not accepting it at first when Thorin dies and then his grief and breakdown after.

- Not a specific moment exactly but the way that Fili's death and Tauriel/Fili is paralleled with Thorin's death and Bilbo/Thorin made me raise an eyebrow.

• The thing I disliked most: how Fili and Kili were killed. I was unhappy about how Jackson chose to change that. It - Fili being murdered by Azog immediately and Kili being killed by Bolg off in his own subplot area - didn't work for me at all. I really hated it in fact. The Durin's heading off on a secret mission I was fine with but how they died was a change too far for me. Did anyone even realise that Kili had died when they were gathered around Thorin's body?

• The other pairing the first movie had me shipping was Gandalf/Galandriel and like Thorin/Bilbo that got a resurgence with this movie. I loved Galandrial saving him at Dol Guldur. I loved her carrying him. I loved him grabbing her hand and begging her to go with him. It just really makes me want to know more about their past.

• Like most of the movie Thorin's death was a mixed bag. I didn't care for Azog falling into the water, Thorin watching him float by and then Azog stabbing him through the ice. I did however love Thorin choosing to let Azog stab him in order to be able to kill him. Thematically and characterization-wise it worked for me so well.

• I wasn't a fan of how Bilbo spent most of that last battle unconscious. Also why wasn't he wearing/using his ring?

• I liked Bard. Everything with him was good and the scene where he tried to negotiate peace with Thorin was great.

• My favourite scene of the final battle was the very beginning when Dain lead some of his dwarves to meet the oncoming orcs. We see them make a line with their shields and then just as the orcs are about to reach them the elves attack, jumping over the dwarves into battle. That was an awesome moment (especially because you don't know if the dwarves are on their own or if the elves are going to join them.)

• Dwalin's conversation with Thorin was great. I also liked that moment between Thorin and Dain in the middle of battle.

• Strangely that final scene between Thandruil and Tauriel really worked for me. I disliked their confrontation earlier in the movie but this final exchange about love and grief was really lovely.

• The Bilbo/Thandruil/Bard/Gandalf scene was excellent.

• I loved a lot of what we saw of Thandruil - everything with him from his arrival to him fighting in Dale - even though his characterisation was left rather thin.

• I love that Thorin basically saved himself from his gold sickness but I really wish that we'd gotten a scene of Fili and Kili trying to talk to him/get through to him during his gold madness.

- I did love the Thorin/Kili scene after Thorin overcame his gold sickness. The headtouch! I wish Thorin/Fili had a moment like that.

• Not enough of the dwarves. They didn't feel like they had enough of a presence in this movie which made me sad. Especially about Bofur who I loved in the first one.

• Legolas's fight with Bolg went far too long. Why was that even in there? So unnecessary.

• Speaking of - Alfrid was also a waste of time and I really wish the movie hadn't spent so much time on him. There were so many better ways to spend that screentime.

• The way women were treated/shown in the movie was a very mixed bag.

On the positive side: I loved the women of Laketown deciding to fight with the men in the final battle. Some of those elves were women, yes? Sometimes it's hard to tell but if yes, that's great. For the most part Tauriel. Galadriel facing down Sauron and banishing him back to Mordor was awesome.

On the negative: Galadriel spending the entire fight in Dol Guldur holding Gandalf or otherwise lying on the ground. Would it have been that hard to show her fighting back? Even just have a ghost king come for her and Gandalf and her repelling him away with her magic.

I was annoyed that Bard's eldest daughter basically spent the movie running around helplessly with her younger sister and never once tried to defend herself while her young brother was running around trying to help their dad fight. If the PTB really wanted to add more women to the tale they could have done it easily by switching the roles of the two.

• The ending felt rushed.

• Thorin and company taking off their fancy armour, or rather not putting it back on, when they finally decided to go out to fight? WTF? How does that make any sense??