The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
(B+ or 3/4 stars)
Just as in 2003 (when Return of the King wrapped up the Lord of the Rings trilogy), I am sad to leave Middle Earth behind in this 3rd Hobbit film, 'The Battle of the Five Armies' (directed by Peter Jackson). By now, the relative strengths & weaknesses of this series are pretty well established. The performances, landscape cinematography, sets/costumes, & most of the effects are exceedingly well done, but the story has been stretched/inflated in an attempt to turn a children's adventure tale into a meaningful, larger-than-life epic on par with Jackson's LOTR series. Another problem with these Hobbit movies compared to LOTR is that this series lacks a clear goal. In the LOTR, the plot was simple. Each of those films were leading up to that one 'destroy the ring' save-the-world moment. In this Hobbit series, first it's about getting to The Lonely Mountain, then defeating Smaug the dragon, then fighting for the gold in Erebor. Despite coming in at a briskly moving 144 minutes (the shortest of any Middle Earth flick), it still features some 'filler'; most of that in the form of the titular battle that goes on and ... on.
Action picks up right where The Desolation of Smaug left off, with Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), & other assorted dwarves, wandering the vast treasure trove under The Lonely Mountain in Erebor while vengeful dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) was flying down to attack neighboring Lake Town with his inferno of rage, and while Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) was being held captive by the Necromancer at Dol Guldur. These leftover cliffhangers from 'TDoS' are promptly resolved in a couple of the film's most enthralling scenes. Gandalf's nail-biting escape, with the help of some familiar allies - Galadriel, Elrond, & Saruman (Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, & 92 yr. old Christopher Lee) - forbodes the events in the Lord of the Rings. I loved watching this trio kick Ringwraith butt in a sequence that's particularly well done despite being superfluous to the main story. Also, Smaug's fate is so quickly sealed by heroic Bard the Bowman (an effective Luke Evans) that one wonders why this part of the story wasn't wrapped up in the 2nd film, but I digress.
Once these initial events are out of the way, this movie then focuses on the gathering forces of men (Lake Townians), elves (led by elk-riding, enigmatic Thranduil, played with camp severity by Lee Pace), dwarves (including a fun Billy Connolly), & orcs around the mountain ... all eager to collect their due share of Smaug's treasure, thus leading to the aforementioned battle. Choreographing complex, interlocking, cinematic battle sequences is Peter Jackson's forte. Even though The Battle of the Five Armies is not as fleshed-out or monumental as The Battle of Helm's Deep in The Two Towers or The Battle at Gondor in The Return of the King, per say, Jackson's wizardry with battle sequences still aptly elevates this 3rd Hobbit film; peppering the proceedings with interesting creatures (were-worms, giant bats) and tremendous heroic moments that allow many major characters to shine.
But quality of those battles aside, they really do take up SO much running time. Given that we're just watching CGI orc armies fighting equally CGI elves/dwarves {a bummer}, it's only when the battles break into individual fights that they become more interesting and emotionally pungent ... but even those go on a bit long. There's a terrific buildup to the BIG showdown btwn. Thorin & Azog, the leader of the orcs ... but then the initially-thrilling fight itself goes on too long atop a frozen river. The same is true of Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) & Legolas' (Orlando Bloom) gymnastics-happy battle with one other orc. Howard Shore's swelling musical score informs us how emotional the fall-out of these battles are - and I DID feel something - but nothing that was on par with the LOTR trilogy. I was devastated by events, there.
The cast, as mentioned above, is excellent. Martin Freeman was a wonderful choice to play Bilbo. Every lilt of the head, facial tick, & warmly delivered line of dialogue strikes the heart. I just wish he were more front-&-center in these movies which are, after all, titled for him. Ian McKellen as Gandalf? What can I say ... love him. Richard Armitage does great work as dwarf leader Thorin, whose mind was poisoned with gold lust (Dragon Sickness). Thorin has a nice character arc here; I was most invested in him, rather than anything Bilbo gets to do. Although Tolkien purists grumble about the addition of Evangeline Lilly as elf Tauriel & her lightly touched-upon romance with Kili the dwarf (Aidan Turner), their fleeting moments together are some of the few that generate real emotions, for me. And I certainly enjoyed their scenes together more than I did with the wretched "comic relief" provided by new character, Alfrid.
'The Battle of the Five Armies', while not as majestic as the LOTR films, is beautifully-mounted, fairly thrilling, & ends tenderly with a bittersweet scene that links it to The Fellowship of the Ring; allowing all 6 Middle Earth films to feel like one big 17 hour extravaganza (for devoted fans, primarily). But The Hobbit trilogy, as a whole, is more uneven & not as emotionally affecting as the LOTR trilogy. I wish more of the characters that we've been introduced to over the course of these 3 movies got more of a just due in the story. Remember Radagast the Brown & his delightful rabbit-drawn sleigh? We get very little of him here. I also wanted to know what becomes of some of our heroes: Bard, the dwarf fellowship -- but we get nothing, really. Hopefully the extended dvd edition fixes that. In any case, 'The Battle of the Five Armies' is good enough to quell some naysayers, and legions of Tolkien fans will admire what Peter Jackson has provided. From start to finish I was (mostly) enthralled and, as matters wrap up back in the Shire, increasingly saddened that this could be Middle Earth's last cinematic bow.
Action picks up right where The Desolation of Smaug left off, with Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), & other assorted dwarves, wandering the vast treasure trove under The Lonely Mountain in Erebor while vengeful dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) was flying down to attack neighboring Lake Town with his inferno of rage, and while Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) was being held captive by the Necromancer at Dol Guldur. These leftover cliffhangers from 'TDoS' are promptly resolved in a couple of the film's most enthralling scenes. Gandalf's nail-biting escape, with the help of some familiar allies - Galadriel, Elrond, & Saruman (Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, & 92 yr. old Christopher Lee) - forbodes the events in the Lord of the Rings. I loved watching this trio kick Ringwraith butt in a sequence that's particularly well done despite being superfluous to the main story. Also, Smaug's fate is so quickly sealed by heroic Bard the Bowman (an effective Luke Evans) that one wonders why this part of the story wasn't wrapped up in the 2nd film, but I digress.
Once these initial events are out of the way, this movie then focuses on the gathering forces of men (Lake Townians), elves (led by elk-riding, enigmatic Thranduil, played with camp severity by Lee Pace), dwarves (including a fun Billy Connolly), & orcs around the mountain ... all eager to collect their due share of Smaug's treasure, thus leading to the aforementioned battle. Choreographing complex, interlocking, cinematic battle sequences is Peter Jackson's forte. Even though The Battle of the Five Armies is not as fleshed-out or monumental as The Battle of Helm's Deep in The Two Towers or The Battle at Gondor in The Return of the King, per say, Jackson's wizardry with battle sequences still aptly elevates this 3rd Hobbit film; peppering the proceedings with interesting creatures (were-worms, giant bats) and tremendous heroic moments that allow many major characters to shine.
But quality of those battles aside, they really do take up SO much running time. Given that we're just watching CGI orc armies fighting equally CGI elves/dwarves {a bummer}, it's only when the battles break into individual fights that they become more interesting and emotionally pungent ... but even those go on a bit long. There's a terrific buildup to the BIG showdown btwn. Thorin & Azog, the leader of the orcs ... but then the initially-thrilling fight itself goes on too long atop a frozen river. The same is true of Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) & Legolas' (Orlando Bloom) gymnastics-happy battle with one other orc. Howard Shore's swelling musical score informs us how emotional the fall-out of these battles are - and I DID feel something - but nothing that was on par with the LOTR trilogy. I was devastated by events, there.
The cast, as mentioned above, is excellent. Martin Freeman was a wonderful choice to play Bilbo. Every lilt of the head, facial tick, & warmly delivered line of dialogue strikes the heart. I just wish he were more front-&-center in these movies which are, after all, titled for him. Ian McKellen as Gandalf? What can I say ... love him. Richard Armitage does great work as dwarf leader Thorin, whose mind was poisoned with gold lust (Dragon Sickness). Thorin has a nice character arc here; I was most invested in him, rather than anything Bilbo gets to do. Although Tolkien purists grumble about the addition of Evangeline Lilly as elf Tauriel & her lightly touched-upon romance with Kili the dwarf (Aidan Turner), their fleeting moments together are some of the few that generate real emotions, for me. And I certainly enjoyed their scenes together more than I did with the wretched "comic relief" provided by new character, Alfrid.
'The Battle of the Five Armies', while not as majestic as the LOTR films, is beautifully-mounted, fairly thrilling, & ends tenderly with a bittersweet scene that links it to The Fellowship of the Ring; allowing all 6 Middle Earth films to feel like one big 17 hour extravaganza (for devoted fans, primarily). But The Hobbit trilogy, as a whole, is more uneven & not as emotionally affecting as the LOTR trilogy. I wish more of the characters that we've been introduced to over the course of these 3 movies got more of a just due in the story. Remember Radagast the Brown & his delightful rabbit-drawn sleigh? We get very little of him here. I also wanted to know what becomes of some of our heroes: Bard, the dwarf fellowship -- but we get nothing, really. Hopefully the extended dvd edition fixes that. In any case, 'The Battle of the Five Armies' is good enough to quell some naysayers, and legions of Tolkien fans will admire what Peter Jackson has provided. From start to finish I was (mostly) enthralled and, as matters wrap up back in the Shire, increasingly saddened that this could be Middle Earth's last cinematic bow.