The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett, Ken Stott, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch (voice), Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, James Nesbitt
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
2014

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and his dwarf companions face a massive battle to protect the Lonely Mountain from the forces of darkness.

Review:

Tim: Like many viewers, my introduction to Middle Earth came in 2001 with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which is still one of my favorite movies of all time. I adored the whole trilogy and was very excited when Peter Jackson decided to bring "The Hobbit" to the screen. Unfortunately, I was worried about taking a short novel and extending it to three films. The first two films in this second trilogy were hurt by that. For that reason (and personal life busyness), The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the first Middle Earth film I didn't see in theaters. That might not seem like a big deal, but it still shocks me. That is a powerful statement about the quality of the second trilogy- I would have died before missing a Lord of the Rings film in theaters.

Battle of the Five Armies is the conclusion to the Hobbit trilogy, and it also happens to easily be the worst film in this franchise. This isn't a bad movie- in fact, it's really, really good. However, it's the most flawed movie and the one I enjoyed the least. There's no way around it- that is a bitter disappointment. Ending perhaps our last cinematic venture to Middle Earth on such a middling note is quite sad.

I blame a great deal of this film's problems on the fact that there should have only been two Hobbit movies. Smaug was one of my favorite parts of this trilogy, so I was looking forward to the climactic battle, resuming where we left off at the end of The Desolation of Smaug. Unfortunately, that is wrapped up within the first twenty minutes and felt like a rushed, anticlimactic endeavor. I really believe this should have been included in the second film. As is, it feels very disjointed to finish one storyline and then shift to others for the remainder of this film. It didn't create a seamless viewing experience.

Another major complaint I had is the ineffectual role Bilbo played in this film. He is supposed to be our hero, but it felt like he wasn't in the movie nearly enough. He was the star of the film but played a supporting role. Why you would take the most fascinating, likeable character and put him on the sidelines is beyond me. Martin Freeman is great as Bilbo, but he just doesn't get enough screen time. Although it was always in the back of my mind, this film finally drove the point home- the dwarves just aren't interesting at all. There's what, 13 of them? And at the end of this film, we've spent over 8 hours with them. There's Thorin. There's the old one. And there's the young one who likes Evangeline Lilly. I honestly couldn't tell you any of their names, their personalities, or what makes them interesting. They are dull, lifeless characters. And, we're forced to spend a great deal of time with them. At this point, I had just had it with pretending to care about them. Jackson blew it in that regard.

Although I was disappointed by his very small role, it's always good seeing Ian McKellen as Gandalf. I won't complain too much, because every second was wonderful to see him in this role. Richard Armitage was fine as Thorin, but I don't like Armitage all that much and never cared much about Thorin. Orlando Bloom continued to be about 40% as effective as Legolas as he was in the first trilogy. I like Luke Evans and he mostly did good as Bard, but that storyline wasn't nearly effective enough. I loved the scenes with Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving, but again, they didn't get much screen time.

Now, despite a lot of flaws, Jackson does deliver some exceptional fantasy action sequences. We do get to see a fairly massive battle between four armies (five when the ridiculous eagles show up, late as always). There is a lot of action here and even though I didn't love all the characters involved, I loved the action sequences. I also loved that several characters died- too often, these Middle Earth movies teased deaths without delivering one. It was important to raise the stakes here, and I was glad that happened (although it happened in the books, so Jackson doesn't get a ton of credit for that).

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is a solid, entertaining movie. This is a good film. Unfortunately, it's the weakest film in the Hobbit trilogy, which was significantly weaker than any of the Lord of the Rings movies. I had a fun time watching this movie and would have enjoyed it in a vacuum. However, when you're Peter Jackson and you've set the bar so incredibly high,the audience deserves better than this.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug