18. Too Much CGI, Not Enough Acting
Though not all of the Orcs in the film are, as reported by many, 100% CGI, there is a far higher incidence of them here than in any of the Lord of the Rings films. Jackson's earlier trilogy was lauded for having its primary Orc villains be portrayed by actual actors who were simply in a complex array of prosthetics, and watching The Hobbit, it's clear that the director just couldn't be bothered with that anymore. Take Azog, the film's most pronounced antagonist (given that we rarely see Smaug), a character who could easily have been made more authentic and believable had it just been a large man in a suit, and though the visual effects are indeed rather accomplished, it just doesn't have the same visceral feel of an actual human being, because we know it's just an algorithm running through a computer. Granted, there are the likes of Andy Serkis' Gollum which positively could not be better rendered through organic means, but that's more a testament to Serkis' magnificent portrayal than the toys that Jackson and Weta Digital have at their disposal. It really just makes the production seem a bit lazy, to be honest.