It’s been a long time coming, but this Friday marks the release of the final chapter in director Peter Jackson’s journey through Middle Earth, a re-telling of J.R.R. Tolkien’s best works which has spread to six films, and culminates with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies; a film which has its flaws, but is an undeniably fitting send-off worthy of both The Hobbit trilogy, and the entire Middle Earth saga.
Since setting off from Bag End in An Unexpected Journey we’ve seen the lowly hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) come face-to-face with trolls, orcs, elves, and the distain of the dwarfs who’s company he kept. He’s crossed paths with men, and stood before a menacing dragon (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) in The Desolation of Smaug, but now he faces his toughest challenge with The Battle of the Five Armies; as after reclaiming their mountain home from the dragon (whom they unwittingly unleashed upon a nearby town) the dwarfs, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) find their home threatened once again; with armies of all races, from all over Middle Earth, descending on the ancient kingdom of Erebor for a truly epic battle.
In fact the battle is so large, it takes up practically the entire runtime, and makes the entire film one giant battle sequence; something which has both good and bad points, as Jackson’s now so well versed in crafting his gigantic battle sequences he clearly knows what’s he’s doing, delivers plenty of action, healthy dollops of emotion, and some truly stunning set-pieces (even if some are ludicrously over-the-top), but after two and a half hours of nigh-on constant fighting, you will start to suffer from battle fatigue.
Constant and repetitive twists; we’re outnumbered but an army has just come to rescue us, they’re hiding another army just over the hill, more fighters have joined/abandoned the cause; simply make the battle weary. It’s well shot, brilliantly choreographed, and features a number of stand-out moments, but it all feels too similar, and despite the peril, and eventual fate of some well known characters, it never feels like there’s any true danger to our heroes (perfectly highlighted by two dwarfs deciding they can guard a pass by themselves because there are “only a hundred” goblins about to attack them).
Characterisation is also a little hit and miss as Bard (Luke Evans) remains wooden and cliched throughout, Billy Connolly’s (Muppet Treasure Island) dwarven Lord is acceptable enough but would’ve worked far far better if he were a straight character rather than a comedy addition, and most of the supporting cast are slotted into fairly benign, obvious, and thoroughly cliched roles.
Though it’s hard to criticise The Hobbit for being cliched, as Tolkien (and Jackson to an extent) actually invented the now cliched tropes, and The Five Armies does exhibit a number of examples of solid character development and emotion; Evangeline Lily’s elven warrior Tauriel for example is given a full range of emotions both before, during, and after the battle (often revolving around her relationship with a particular dwarf), and plays them all rather well. Bilbo Baggins has also grown immensely from the first movie, being a much stronger character than he has ever been, and it’s a pleasure to watch Martin Freeman bring him to life. The show-stealing performance however belongs to Richard Armitage, who’s portrayal of the dwarf king Thorin is simply astounding; as he’s gone from an initially gruff but likeable and honourable warrior to a selfish madman consumed with greed, and the way in which Armitage exhibits Thorin’s all-consuming lust for gold (at the expense of his people, and the relationships he once held with his friends) is astounding, tense, intimidating, and scarily realistic.
Whilst book-lovers may know what’s coming, there will be some surprises, as the events of The Five Armies don’t play out exactly as they did in Tolkien’s version of The Hobbit. Yet rest assured everything is handled with the utmost care, and each important moment is given the proper weight, time, and emotional impact it deserves, making it not only a fitting and appropriate end to The Hobbit trilogy, but the Middle Earth saga as a whole (being as this trilogy precedes Jackon’s previous Tolkien trilogy; The Lord of the Rings), and finishes with an excellent blend into The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Some things feel a little forced (including yet another Lord of the Rings roundtable reunion, and the shoehorning in of a beloved LOTR character being mentioned), but overall, picking up right where The Desolation of Smaug left off, continuing with a truly epic battle (filled with some brilliant visual effects), and not only providing an emotional payoff to the journey we began two years ago, but fully satisfying fans of the original LOTR movies with a fantastic final scene, and a wonderfully nice end-credits-song delivered by former hobbit Billy Boyd (who played Pippin in the LOTR trilogy), The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies delivers on just about every front. It’s unlikely to clear up during awards season like The Return of the King, but for anyone who’s spent time in Middle Earth, it’s a must watch, and somewhere you have to visit one last time.
Matt Wheeldon – @TheMattWheeldon.
