The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies - 5 Reasons It's Awesome (And 6 Why It Sucked)

2. Terrible Cinematography & Lighting

While the occasionally rough effects are one thing, another major issue with the movie is just how unfortunate some of the lighting and cinematography is. Take this shot from the trailer, for example: the soft focus and light reflecting off Thorin's head looks cheap and tacky, like a corny flashback from a daytime soap opera, rather than a $250 million movie. Though this was also a problem in the two previous movies, it feels more pronounced this time, with Jackson's use of slow motion only making the weird digital cinematography look even more like a low-budget BBC costume drama. Had Jackson shot on film, at least this one problem could have been fixed. As for the cornball soft focus? It's just a bizarre creative choice from Jackson and his frequent director of photography Andrew Lesnie. And this is without even mentioning the HFR presentation, which has proven massively divisive with audiences.