I think you're really reaching for some of the stuff there, especially the battle. There are so many damn movies that feature two huge armies going straight at each other and having a gritty fight. You wouldn't have even thought to compare the two if they didn't both involve mythical beasts and monsters.

The first thing you've got in there, again, is a time tested sweep and reveal type of thing, which can be seen in dozens of other "epic" films. It's just dramatically effective. It gives everything that feeling of being huge and grandiose.

The second thing you've got in there, that's just storytelling, pretty much. I haven't read LWW in years, so I can't remember if that specific scene was in the book, but yeah, that's just story.