Review of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) by Henry P — 16 Jan 2016

1/16/16.

A sickness lies on the production of this film. Don't worry, this is not a criticism of the production behind The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, but I must call out the bad pacing. We seriously open with what should have been the end of the Desolation of Smaug. Before we actually get to The Battle of the Five Armies in The Battle of the Five Armies, we open with Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) attacking Laketown. Trailers and promos have revealed who lives through this sequence, and it's a spectacular sequence, but the placement is off. When the attack ends, the people of Laketown are left in ruin from dragonfire as Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) foreshadowed in The Desolation of Smaug, and so they head to the lonely mountain to claim treasure Thorin promised, not for personal wealth, but just to rebuild their lives. They're not the only people of Middle-Earth attracted to this treasure. The wood-elves led by King Thranduil (Lee Pace) journey from Mirkwood to reclaim ancient elf treasures from Thorin (Richard Armitage) in any way possible. During all this, Thorin is losing it, and Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and the dwarves are noticing. Before, a little during, and up till the actual battle in the title, the dwarves try reasoning with him: Fili and Kili (Dean O'Gorman and Aidan Turner) try convincing Thorin their search for the Arkenstone in the gold hoard that has no word to describe its size is a lost cause, while Dwalin and Balin (Graham McTaversh and Ken Stott) try to remind Thorin who he was before dragon sickness overtook his mind. Somewhere along the way, Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) travel to an "abandoned" kingdom that has great significance in The Lord of the Rings. There's also a sequence where Gandalf (Ian McKellon), Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and Saruman (Christopher Lee in one of his last film roles) fight off Sauron (Benedict Cumberbatch. Again) in a stunning, but forced fight sequence, mostly because it felt out of place in a treasure hunt. We do however, see the start of Saruman's change in Lord of the Rings. After all this (Not in the order presented here), we finally get to The Battle of the Five Armies, which is spectacular, and rather heartfelt in a few places, but Thorin's cousin Dain (Billy Connolly) just seems completely artificial compared to the dwarf company. Once again, Howard Shore brings us a well-done score, and the various screenwriters do a fair job spreading out the story of Bilbo and the thirteen dwarves into three movies. I will remember this trilogy. Throughout, the good and the bad: the parts that felt in place and natural, and those forced by the screenwriters for the sake of adapting the Return of the King's appendices.

12/20/14.

All this behind, the conclusion ahead. And there are many foes to dread: Two orc armies, three of men elves and dwarves. All shall fight. And that fight is one to behold. Unlike An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug, The Battle of the Five Armies waists zero-time in getting started. While An Unexpected Journey took 43 minutes to get up and running, and The Desolation of Smaug took a flashback to get started, The Battle of the Five Armies finds its footing faster than Smaug can strick back at the people of Laketown. After that exciting sequence, we get to see how the people of Laketown recover, and what the dwarves and Bilbo did in the reclaimed hall of Thorinâ(TM)s ancestors. We also get the final bit of appendices from The Return of the King book that nobody asked for, slowing down this movie in the early middle. It does pick up after a bit, and what we get is incredible. The dwarves are essentially the same, except their slapstick is as good as gone: Bombur is no longer making a fool of himself, and this story actually gets serious here. Thorin has changed, reflecting that absolute power corrupts absolutely. This greed could be found relatable because thereâ(TM)s a little greed in all of us, but some just have better grips on it than others. Richard Armitage provides a regal performance of Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Throh, king under the mountain. The picture is amazing, and the decision for 48-frames-per-second is shown to be a good one, even though it takes getting used to at first. The picture is clear, and it does get violent, but this movieâ(TM)s title has battle in it, and is mainly about the battle, so of course it will get violent. There are the Middle-Earth orc-decapitations, the scenes of death and destruction, all reflecting Tolkienâ(TM)s belief that greed is destructive, though in life, he would never have admitted it. Howard Shore, provides one last time, and goes out on a high (or actually, dark toned) note for his career of bringing Peter Jackson a soundtrack for his movies. The trailers proved to be a darkness, doom-and-gloom, and just pure fighting, but there is a real story of the corruption of treasure, and the negative consequences of greed we can all take to heart. It is seen in Thorinâ(TM)s behavioral change, going from noble âfor our fallen brethrenâ? sense of mind, to a âyou can have noneâ? sense of mind. It still got to have a few laughs, mostly from Alfridâ(TM)s petty attempts to escape fighting and getting away with his own treasure. The Battle of the Five Armies is a great middle-of-a-six-part-saga, and an amazing conclusion to The Hobbit trilogy-that-should-have-been-one.