Review of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) by Ron D — 31 Jan 2016

The Hobbit had a lot to live up to. One of the greatest works of fiction of all time, The Lord Of The Rings novels by J..R.R. Tolkein, is considered a popular classic with a tremendously loyal and well read fan base. Tolkein's attention to detail and genius in creating an entire new world, Middle Earth, complete with its own languages, has such a high standard that it has plagued earlier attempts to retell the story.

The Hobbit is one simple novel. The Lord Of The Rings are three complex novels. The Lord Of The Rings movie trilogy covers all three books appropriately. The Hobbit should have required only one, or maybe even two films to cover the single novel, However, as the producers knew this would extend the profits experienced from the Lord Of The Rings film franchise, they stretched out the story, bastardized the source material, added other Tolkein source material, and did the unthinkable - modified the original Tolkein story by adding new characters and plot lines! How dare they!

This film covers the original source material well, but goes beyond what is required to tell The Hobbit story. New characters and plots distort and complicate what essentially is a golden, adventurous materpiece of children's literature by J.R.R. Tolkein.

As a devoted reader of the Tolkein books, I was somewhat satisfied but disappointed with this bastardized with this portrayal on film. The Battle Of The Five Armies does a great job of wrapping up and capping a great story arc, that may have otherwise fallen flat as many trilogy film franchises do.