The mammoth cinematic achievement of Peter Jackson — adapting the rich world of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Middle-earth since 2001 — will always come with an asterisk; a sad irony.

Turning “The Lord of the Rings” novels into a filmic trilogy was possible only with the latest in computer-generated graphics. It was the only way to realize Tolkien’s vision of fantastic creatures, enormous sets and massive-scale battles. It also took a team of writers who knew Tolkien’s dense and detailed universe (appendices and all) forward and backward, while understanding the unique requirements of narrative visual storytelling.

With the first three “Lord of the Rings” movies, Jackson re-invigorated fantasy filmmaking and set in place a production design and special effects standard that has been aped in every large-scale historical drama and fantasy movie/TV show since. In addition, the director set the bar incredibly high for achieving the right balance of character, action and urgency to relate to a wide audience and appeal to hardcore fans of the source material.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2014/dec/15/283736/

With all the structure and look of “LOTR” codified and duplicated ad nauseam for a decade, Jackson then undertook telling the comparatively slim story of “The Hobbit” — a book with a similar hero’s journey, which ended up being Tolkien’s warm-up act for the larger task of the full trilogy.

But while Tolkien expanded and enriched his writing for the “LOTR” trilogy, Jackson faced the task of adapting a lesser tome. Instead, he raided Tolkien’s unused appendices and expanded one popular children’s book into three films.

I’m not just arguing that Jackson needlessly padded “The Hobbit” trilogy out to three movies. That’s a common criticism that even the biggest fanboy would agree with. The sad irony is that — given the enormous familiarity with Jackson’s cinematic Middle-earth and the almost identical structure and conflict of both trilogies — the sixth and final film “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” is a slog of an exercise; one of stubborn inevitability that ground me down to a nub.

At 144 minutes, it’s the shortest in the series, but this chapter is so lacking in depth and surprise that it feels like watching a never-ending series of video game cutscenes. One big problem is that Martin Freeman, now fully comfortable in the skin of brave hobbit Bilbo Baggins, is barely in the picture.

There are so many supporting characters the film follows that Bilbo is gone for long stretches. Whenever Freeman is back onscreen, he’s amiable, funny and energetic — radiating the best qualities of his character. Unfortunately, that’s not a lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJmR5pwzInQ

Bilbo’s struggle to resist the power of the ring exactly mirrors that of dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), whose honor is tainted by the promise of gold and power. Since we’ve already seen this inner conflict portrayed in the “LOTR” trilogy with Frodo (Elijah Wood), it’s taxing for the sixth time here — and with two characters, no less.

Besides all the redundant explication from a storytelling standpoint, the final sad irony of “The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies” is that Jackson’s visual effects are the best they’ve been. The rendering of three-dimensional battles has never been more convincing.

But the costumes, creatures and production design are all variations on a too-familiar theme, and this time more than ever their surface-value pleasures are hung out to dry by an absolute lack of urgency or surprise — two concepts that Jackson had mastered in the superior “LOTR” trilogy.

Two years ago, as an exercise in editing, actor Topher Grace re-edited George Lucas’ lugubrious “Star Wars” prequels into one efficient, 85-minute fanedit (“Star Wars Episode III.5: The Editor Strikes Back”) that reportedly somehow preserves the hero-gone-bad journey of Anakin Skywalker and removes all the excess fat. When Grace or some other aspiring editor inevitably gets around to condensing “The Hobbit” trilogy, it might be safe to enter Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth again.