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

1. The Ending

Thorin gets to make his peace with Bilbo as he dies, kick-starting a speedy but efficient epilogue sequence which provides a lead into The Fellowship Of The Ring. Legolas talks to his father Thranduil (Lee Pace) about finding Arathorn's son, the man known as Strider (Aragorn), and when Legolas asks for his real name, his father tells him that he must find it out for himself. Bilbo then says his goodbyes to Thorin's men and returns to the Shire, but before entering, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) tells Bilbo that he knows about the Ring he found. Bilbo arrives home, where his wares are being auctioned off under the belief that he is dead, and as Bilbo enters his empty home, the scene shifts to his 111th birthday, as Gandalf knocks at his door and the events of Fellowship kick off. Though it lacks the sheer emotional impact of Return's brilliant but overlong ending, Jackson instead ends The Hobbit on a far snappier note that links the two sub-franchises together without hammering the point home too hard. As an added treat, the mega-long end credits sequence is backed by a cracking original song from Billy Boyd (who played Peregrin Took in the Rings movies), The Last Goodbye. Even though The Hobbit trilogy has been hit and miss at the best of times, Jackson at least ended it in the style it so deserved. Now, however, it's time to look at which aspects of the movie just didn't work at all...