The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

You know you're in the holiday movie season when a plethora of much awaited films have or going to be thrusted upon us very soon. Of course, with the Academy Award deadline date of 12-31 looming huge and coming quick, the number of these films are massive whether frothed with quality or ones to get the younger audiences in those theater seats. Ca-ching! So now we are being offered the last and final installation of The Hobbit series entitled "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies".


This brings to epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and the Company of Dwarves. Having reclaimed their homeland from the Dragon Smaug (voice of Benedict Cumberbatch), the Company has unwittingly unleased a deadly force into the world. Enraged, Smaug rains his fiery wrath down upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town. Obsessed above all else with his reclaimed treasure, Thorin sacrifices friendship and honor to hoard it as Bilbo's frantic attempts to make him see reason drive the Hobbit towards a desperate and dangerous choice. But there are even greater dangers ahead. Unseen by any but the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan), the great army Sauron has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain. As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide-- unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends in the epic Battle of the Five Armies, as the future of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.

Others to round out the cast are Luke Evans as Alkrid, Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel, Ken Stott as Balin, Lee Pace as Galadriel, Ryan Gage as Alfrid, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, Dean O'Gorman as Fili, Aidan Turner as Kili, Stephen Fry as Master of Lake-town, Ian Holm as Old Bilbo, and Manu Bennett as Azog.

Considering his vast experience in directing this genre, the directing by Peter Jackson ("Meet the Feebles" '89, "Heavenly Creature" '94, "The Frighteners" '96, "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy" '01, '02, '03, "King Kong" '05, "The Lovely Bones" '09, the first two installments of "Hobbit" films '12, '13) it would seem that, after a point, he would just 'yawn' his way through this film, and in actuality, this installment was as fresh, if not fresher than its predecessors. Trust me, I'm not a huge fan of this or Lord of the Rings trilogy, but with all objectivity, this conclusion not only was amazingly directed and written well, but also wrapped up this epic story nicely. It was written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Jackson and Guillermo del Toro. I believe that the only reason why this was an effective screenplay (with four screenwriters), was because it was the same team that wrote the other two installments, otherwise having all these 'hands in the pot' would've caused this story to be mired down in confusion and lack of cohesiveness as with so many other films with the same number of writers. I couldn't end this review without touting Weta Digital, Ltd. for their incredible visual effects and animation. This company was the same firm which created the visuals for the Lord of the Rings trilogy as well as the last two installments of this trilogy and it shows in spades. How do these guys do it? 

If you plan on seeing this, you've got to see it on the large screen, lest it gets lost on a DVD. Trust me, after seeing this, you will walk away enjoying this nice tidy conclusion all in a 3D format too boot! Enjoy!

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                        Rated: PG-13                        144mins.