After waking up Smaug from a deep sleep, Bilbo, Thorin and the other dwarves watch as the dragon attacks the inhabitants of Lake-town. His flames destroy most of the village, but the people are saved by Bard the Bowman. With the Lonely Mountain freed from its former master, its strategic position and innumerable riches attract the greedy from all around Middle Earth. And so dwarves, elves, humans, wargs and orcs prepare for battle…

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After 13 years, six movies, an almost billion dollar budget and double that in box office receipts, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings franchise comes to an end in a splash of fireworks and 3D special effects. The title’s famous battle takes up an hour of the movie, a huge spectacle that takes it cue from those found in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This is sure to attract loyal audiences who will get their money’s worth of action, sword fighting, trolls and bellowing warriors. This approach is more ordinary and Hollywood than the previous installment, in which the face-off between the Bilbo and the dragon took place in a more sober atmosphere, with a more fascinating enemy than this movie’s hordes of warrior creatures. This time around, Jackson confirms his lack of finesse with the bland relationship between Kili and Tauriel, as well as Thorin’s abrupt about-face. Although the spectacle is great, it doesn’t rise to the level it could have.