As over the top and insane as those scenes are, I don't find them the problem. Part of me enjoys each and everyone for one reason or another. Yes, even the rock monster battle.
It is all the random storylines that have nothing at all to do with the journey that really slow the films to a crawl. Think about why they have to keep cutting away from Bilbo and Smaug. It is because we are forced to continually check in on the happenings else where. It also doesn't help that a lot of the material contradicts in terms of tone and logic.
And honestly, does anyone actually know what is going on with Azog and Bolg? I don't even think Peter and company do. Considering all the changes made clearly late in the game for both films so far for each character.
In the CGI thread, someone mentioned all these late game changes being responsible for subpar CGI. Is there a better example then these Hobbit films? There are so many ugly shots, it is kind of sad. This should not be a problem at this point. At least the original films didn't need to contend with rendering countless orcs for simple shots of them traveling pack style across the lands.
