Review of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) by Michael M — 24 Jul 2015

A lot of my complaints about the earlier Hobbit films are still present here. It sort of drags, it's attempts at tying into Lord of the Rings diminish some of the events happening in the moment, the CGI isn't very good and compared to the Rings films seems lazy, and the fact that it's dragged out to a trilogy means that each film feels like an individual chapter and not a solid stand-alone story. That last bit is particularly troublesome in this entry since the previous film ended on a cliffhanger. We start this film by resolving the events of the last, then building up again. Really the first 15 minutes or so of this movie should have taken place in the previous film, and if they had this movie would have had a more solid story arc. And finally, I have to say I don't like Azog as the primary antagonist. Apparently he had a virtually no presence in the books, so that might explain why he seems so thin a character here. He's just not that interesting, and he sort of diminishes the truly great villains like Smaug.

Okay, now on to the good. There is a lot to like in this movie. I know that first paragraph might make it seem like I didn't like the movie, but I did. The fact is there are a lot of problems in this film, and they do stick out. Looking past it though, there's a lot to like. Peter Jackson shoots an epic in a truly spectacular way. Everything just feels huge. When you see a large army or mountain or dragon, you really get the sense of how big it is. There are some great shots of sweeping action sequences that were just stellar to look at. When the movie is at its best, I got caught up in these moments and was easily able to overlook the things that bugged me. I also liked the characters, and they shine brighter in this movie than ever before. I like all the returning cast from Lord of the Rings, but the standout performance is Martin Freeman as Bilbo. He's a much more enjoyable protagonist than Frodo was, with more charm and relatability. He's really the lens through which we see the story, and I enjoyed going on the adventure with him. I found myself more invested in Thorin this time around too. In the previous films he didn't do much for me, and I sort of found him to be a meaner version of Aragorn. Here, he stands on his own, and I really got invested in his story. I also liked how this film explores the theme of gold corrupts more than the other films did.

I've never been a huge Tolkein fan, and I probably never will be, but I still found enjoyment to be had in Battle of the Five Armies. Generally speaking I think I enjoyed Desolation of Smaug the most, but Battle of the Five Armies is probably the most well rounded and best made of the trilogy, and a satisfying conclusion.