Tags
2010's, Aidan Turner, Benedict Cumberbatch, Billy Connolly, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Dean O'Gorman, Evangeline Lilly, Fantasy, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, Ken Stott, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Martin Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Peter Jackson, Richard Armitage, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Film Title
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Director
Peter Jackson
Starring
- Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
- Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield
- Ian McKellen as Gandalf
- Orlando Bloom as Legolas
- Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel
- Lee Pace as Thranduil
- Luke Evans as Bard
- Aidan Turner as Kíli
- Dean O’Gorman as Fíli
- Ken Stott as Balin
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug
- Billy Connolly as Dáin
- Hugo Weaving as Elrond
- Christopher Lee as Saruman
- Ian Holm as Old Bilbo
- Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
As the concluding part of The Hobbit trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies is a successful last chapter and in my view the best of the Hobbit movies. Exciting, tense yet human in many ways, it’s a rousing finale that definitely captures the attention.
We begin this final slice of Middle Earth adventure were the last one left off. Having reaching the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo and the dwarf crew accidentally woke the vicious dragon Smaug from slumber. The fire-breathing creature leafs the confines of the kingdom and angrily heads to the adjoining Laketown, which he sets about destroying. What is left of the people flee the desolated town, but Bard sets about ridding the place of Smaug and succeeds by firing a makeshift arrow that ultimately kills the dragon. Yet even though Smaug is gone, there is still unrest and panic as the people look to the dwarves for help because of a promise made by Thorin to share in some of the gold within the mountain. The Woodland Elves, lead by the ruthless Thranduil, also have business with the dwarves as there is a collection of jewels he wishes to acquire. But Thorin is in no mind to listen Ashe slowly succumbs to dragon sickness, which clouds his judgement and eats himself up with greed. Bilbo begins to see how this is going to be a tough time as Thranduil declares war along with men on the dwarves for going back on their promise. Plans for war among them are quickly questioned when Gandalf returns after discovering that the spirit of the dark lord Sauron has returned and that an Orc army is heading their way. It is then left to the elves, dwarves and men to decide whether to unite or be divided. They’ll have to make a choice soon as word, thanks to elves Legolas and Tauriel filters through that it isn’t just one army of orcs, but two that are heading to spread darkness across Middle Earth. For Bilbo and the others, it is time to face the ultimate battle of their lives.
What is immediately striking about The Battle of the Five Armies is the efficient running time. Often with last parts of trilogies or Film series, there is a temptation to make things very long-winded and drawn out. Thankfully, Peter Jackson and his stunning direction keep events ticking over nicely and wrap things up with style, not allowing any loose ends or flab to drag the movie down into boredom. On a visual level and an excitement one, The Battle of the Five Armies is the best of the Hobbit movies. The battles are orchestrated with such precision and depth that gives it something else that the other two movies lack, which is a heart. Emotions run very high and the movie alternates between fun, tense and tragic in the space of mere minutes, which is excellent. And thank goodness for the decision to use CGI wisely and not overindulge in it. Set pieces are of a particularly high standard, with special mention to Smaug destroying Laketown and the two battles that form the backbone of the movie. It’s fantasy with a sense of emotion and passion that comes off remarkably well thanks to the wonderful direction and imagery. I liked how the films wrapped up the saga of Middle Earth and helped events come full circle in the end. A thundering Howard Shore score is the perfect sonic companion to the film, peaking with epic scope and emotional heights.
Martin Freeman has really grown into the role of Bilbo and is once again excellent in an understated way. He never overplays his scenes, instead relying on subtlety to show us the brave heart and occasional wrestling with conscience that he must endure. As good as Freeman is, this movie belongs to Richard Armitage. Portraying Thorin as blinded by his sickness and full of tragic greed, he brings out the fact that he is a good king underneath it all and it is really good when he snaps out of his sickness and leads his crew into battle with inspiration. Ian McKellen is reliably wonderful as the powerful and sagacious Gandalf, who knows of the dark tide beginning to turn. Orlando Bloom imbues Legolas with a gracefulness that belies his capacity for battle and stands him in good stead when he takes part. Evangeline Lilly is tough yet very luminous Tauriel, whose heart belongs to Kíli and who can more than handle herself when confronted with the violence unleashed on Middle Earth. I liked how Lee Pace as Thranduil, remote king of the elves expanded upon his character to show why he is so cold and unfeeling towards others. Luke Evans has that every man quality about him that makes him the voice of the people portraying the proud Bard, while Aidan Turner is touching as the stout-hearted dwarf Kíli. Dean O’Gorman and Ken Stott flesh out the parts of two of the more prominent members of Thorin’s company. Benedict Cumberbatch utilizes his commanding voice to give life to the fierce and very dangerous Smaug, whose opening attack on Laketown is a killer set piece. Some comic relief comes from Billy Connolly as Dáin,Thorin’s irascible cousin who comes to his aid in the epic battle sweeping the lands. Cameos come from Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Ian Holm and Cate Blanchett and suffice to say, they’re all very good as characters we are familiar with within the landscapes of the movies. Plus they all take part in an exhilarating conflict with the forces of Sauron which is a very good part of the movie.
With emotional heft and magical prowess, The Battle of the Five Armies is a well crafted last entry to the saga that is wholly satisfying from beginning to end.
rlterry1 said:
You’re definitely far more magnanimous than I was with this film. Haha. I found it to be unsatisfying, despite the fact it was the best out of the three.
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vinnieh said:
I think the shorter running time and quick action made it more enjoyable to me, rather than it going on for an age.
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rlterry1 said:
We can definitely agree there–I appreciated the short runtime as well.
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vinnieh said:
I think with The Lord of the Rings movies, though they run for a long time, they don’t feel like it because there is so much good. With this movie, I was glad of the shorter running time.
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rlterry1 said:
That is probably due to taking a children’s novel and stretching what could have been one three-hour movie into a 7-8hr trilogy. Understandably so–distribution companies know that trilogies are typically cash cows.
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vinnieh said:
The material in the Hobbit trilogy felt a bit stretched, whereas LOTR flowed seamlessly.
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rlterry1 said:
Only other content stretched for more time is presidential debates. Lol.
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beetleypete said:
I don’t think I even heard of this one, V. Must have slipped under my radar.
Can’t imagine why…
Glad you liked it though.
Best wishes, Pete.
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vinnieh said:
Your humour as always Pete is a delight.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Even though I’ve only seen the first movie, I have to agree with rlterry1 and you Vinnie. The Hobbit is a shortish book that really never should have been stretched into 3 movies. 😕
BTW, I haven’t forgotten about reading you LOTR reviews. Things have just been a little nuts for me the last week. I’m going to try to set some time apart this weekend to read and enjoy them.
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vinnieh said:
It would have been better if they had just two movies. I look forward to reading your thoughts on my Rings reviews Kim. I must sign off for a bit now, got a few things I need to sort out for Christmas. Have a lovely time.
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Marta said:
Vinnie, you are very generous with this one. I really didn’t like it.
Merry Christmas!
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vinnieh said:
I try to be fair with my reviews Marta. Merry Christmas to you, have a good one.
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Dan O. said:
As with all of these movies, sometimes they’re exciting, but for the most part, overlong at the same time. Nice review.
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vinnieh said:
I prefer the LOTR movies myself, but the Hibbit movies have their strengths.
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fragglerocking said:
I have not seen this one, and think I’d have to backtrack and do the other 2 first before I do, but it’s on my list!
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vinnieh said:
It’s advisable to watch the other two first.
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fragglerocking said:
Bien sure. 😊
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KittNoir said:
So much love for Tauriel!
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vinnieh said:
She’s such a good character.
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Hypersonic55 said:
Cool review once again dude. For me this was definitely the least engaging film of this triolgy, by this point I had gotten a bit of Hobbit fatigue, but also I didn’t find any of the character and story elements as comeplling as before and the overuse of CGI was so apparent that I couldn’t get into the army fights. The film wasn’t a complete waste of time, but I knew after I saw it the once that I wouldn’t need to see it again any time soon.
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vinnieh said:
I think the main problem with the Hobbit trilogy is that it stretches out one book and you can tell. The other problem is that it just can’t beat Lord of the Rings in terms of emotional, visual and marvellous scope.
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HusbandAndHusband said:
I can’t believe I haven’t seen this movie yet. I loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy so I can’t believe I haven’t watched the Hobbit ones yet. It’s still hard to believe they stretched one book into three movies.
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vinnieh said:
These movies aren’t as good as LOTR, but they are really watchable.
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HusbandAndHusband said:
I actually did see the first one–I just remembered. It was alright. I think I’ll give the whole series a go.
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vinnieh said:
It’s worth seeing the trilogy, just don’t expect it to be as riveting as LOTR. And as you like LOTR, I reviewed the trilogy a while back.
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badblokebob said:
As I said in my comment on Part 2, I had a very different reaction to this one! Even though it’s the shortest of all the Middle-earth films, I think Jackson really dragged this out. Some of the battle is good, but it just goes on… and on… Then there’s some badly misjudged comedy with Alfrid, and I really think they should’ve dealt with Smaug at the end of #2, rather than holding him over for this film.
Still, there is good stuff. Richard Armitage is absolutely fantastic, for instance, and it’s nice how it ends up tying back into the start of Fellowship.
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vinnieh said:
Armitage really shone here, his best performance of the trilogy. It was pretty neat seeing everything tied up and back to the beginning.
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The Film Editorial said:
Glad you appreciated this movie. I think that while the Hobbit movies as a whole weren’t as great as LotR, I don’t understand why so many actually thought it would in fact live up to those movies. The Hobbit is a very different tone, and works as more of a standalone adventure to the Tolkein series. Whereas LotR deals with end-of-the-world level craziness. I think these movies captured the tone of the book very well, in that it’s supossed to feel a little more light-hearted and less adult. Did it need to be 3 long movies? Probably not. I would have been more than okay with just 2. But hey, I liked having that extra movie…and it was fun. I think of LotR as an Academy Award series, and the Hobbit is more of just a summer-blockbuster. Both are, just in different ways. It’s not worth comparing the two when you really think about it.
Anyways, great post! Check out my blog too if you get a chance. Keep up the great work. I look forward to reading more of your stuff! 🙂
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vinnieh said:
Thanks so much for your detailed comment and following my blog. Just took a look at your blog, some excellent stuff on there.
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The Film Editorial said:
Thanks so much!
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vinnieh said:
Your site is really neat.
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The Film Editorial said:
Thank you, I appreciate that a ton!
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vinnieh said:
It’s all true man, your blog is really something.
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Tim Bradley said:
Hello vinneh!
Greatly enjoyed reading your review on ‘The Battle of the Five Armies’ and with such detail. I’m currently watching the Extended Edition of the film on DVD.
Interesting thoughts from you about you saying this is the best film of the trilogy. I wouldn’t say it’s the best film in the trilogy, as I feel ‘An Unexpected Journey’ is better. But I agree with you that it’s very action-packed and well-paced. It’s a decent conclusion to ‘The Hobbit’ movie trilogy. I wondered how the story would end as there didn’t seem to be much left especially after Smaug gets killed. But there were surprises in this film, especially with the extended battles on DVD.
I’ve now uploaded my review of ‘The Desolation of Smaug’ on ‘Bradley’s Basement’. Hope you enjoy it!
Great review on this movie! Tim. 🙂
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vinnieh said:
I much appreciate your detailed comment on this post Bradley.
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Tim Bradley said:
Hello vinneh!
Hope you’re well.
Just to let you know my DVD reviews of ‘The Desolation of Smaug’ and ‘The Battle of the Five Armies’ in ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy are on my ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog.
Hope you’ll enjoy them.
Thanks.
Tim. 🙂
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vinnieh said:
I’m doing good thanks for asking Tim. I’ll be sure to check those reviews of yours out later, I’ve just got a few things to do this afternoon and then I’ll be back on.
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Tim Bradley said:
That’s okay. Read them when you’re able to. I hope you’ll enjoy them. Tim. 🙂
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vinnieh said:
I’ll be sure to comment on those posts of yours.
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Morgan said:
Lord of the Rings will always be better, but the end of this film in particular has some real nostalgia moments: the first strains of the fellowship theme at the bit about Strider, and Old Bilbo’s final line. Despite the trilogies many shortcomings, I really loved them, if only for the chance to go back to Middle Earth.
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vinnieh said:
Lord of the Rings is the classic trilogy, though these movies are none too shabby. Thanks for commenting.
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