Review of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) by Nicolás M — 13 May 2015

As far as The Hobbit's movies go, I would say this movie is by much the best one in the series. Not only it managed to catch the essence of Tolkien's most personal thoughts --the certainty of death and the pain that comes by watching a friend as he/she dies--, but also introduced some lasting innovations that were not seen in the Lord of The Rings saga. I do not mean by this that Peter Jackson has in any way surpassed his previous take on Tolkien, being that the Lord of The Rings trilogy is my all-time favorite trilogy -and the same goes for many people-, but I do mean he has allowed his cast to express certain emotions and desires in ways that he could not achieve in the Rings' movies.

The first novelty would no doubt be the madness and ill-thoughts that overwhelm Thorin's mind. The close up to a sick man's thoughts and desires that are to his mind entirely reasonable --because of his being astray, of course- permits us to delve into that realm of fear, passion and anger. We constantly play sane. We feel we can control our lives and emotions, but more often than not we just lose it and become controlled by our own thoughts. Thorin's "dragon sickness" is nothing more than a depiction of one of those instances in which we shouldn't called ourselves "sane" or "reasonable", but one that has been constructed so perfectly that his reminiscence has come to last.

The second one would be the manner in which Peter Jackson portrayed Elves this time around. In The Ring's trilogy we saw them as guardians of the forest, as caring, loving protectors which, although they could be deadly if they felt threatened, as soon as that barrier was taken down they became pleasant folk. In Tolkien's books, this could certainly be said about Rivendell Elves and perhaps about most of Lothlorien's, but never about Mirkwood Elves. Never before were Elves represented best than in this movie. Tolkien always though of them as haughty, greedy, selfish and unforgiving folk, and Peter Jackson nailed it with Lee Pace's depiction of Thranduil. At the start of the movie, he does not care about matters involving other races -especially Dwarfs-, so he shows his worst face. But after the tragic events that follow he becomes somewhat reasonable, growing above his own true-self.

Last but not least, there is the character of Bilbo. At the beginning of the first movie, he was a shy "forgive me" and "sorry" hobbit who thought adventures were of very bad taste and never had dreamed about becoming an adventurer himself. This time around, and for the joy of those of us who love "The Hobbit" book, Martin Freeman has made a progression in his representation of Bilbo exactly in the way that Tolkien tells us in the book. He goes from shy to brave, and from asking permission to taking the initiative. Overall, he becomes the hero of the story, for the joy of Thorin's company and ours alike.

In a sense, every part of this movie felt exactly right --unless you are one of those who constantly complain about the three movie-one book stuff, and can't move beyond that scheme- while bringing innovation at the same time. The terrifying spirit of Sauron, the most feared foe of Middle-earth, vanishing from the reach of Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel and giving rise to a new era of chaos is one of those jewels the movie gives us for our own delight. And I only just revealed a glimpse of what the movie offers. By all accounts, if you are an all-time Tolkien fan or even if you are not, but you loved the Lord of The Rings trilogy, this is a movie you shouldn't miss. This is a movie that will make you watch The Ring's saga again because it constantly remembers us of whence it came. And that's just a joy to experience. Take it from me, watch the movie and you will not be disappointed in the least.