The Hobbit Trilogy: 10 Worst CGI Moments

Peter Jackson's fear that The Hobbit would not be as epic as The Lord of the Rings spiralled into a gross overuse of CGI to generate forced dramatic moments. In short, he overcompensated for the lack of narrative with cheap thrills.

Every other scene in The Battle of the Five Armies was an example of this. There was almost no time to establish what was going on, or even feel a sense of drama, when you were bombarded with so many moments of visual spectacular, rather than plot substance.

Thrandiul was actually one of the more enjoyable characters in the trilogy. Lee Pace played him brilliantly. The elves of Mirkwood are described as "less wise and more dangerous" than their Rivendell counterparts. Thranduil was clearly a powerful elf lord, but his arrogance often clouded his judgment, making him an intriguing and complex character.

So it was a shame when Jackson included that ridiculous giant elk. It might have been less egregious if it weren't for that scene when the elk scoops up a half dozen orcs, in order for the elf lord to lop their heads off. One moment like this might have been excusable - enjoyable even - but by this point we were bored of it.