The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Six films, more money than I count and a running time that goes over 1000 minutes (that’s not even talking about the extended editions) and Peter Jackson’s time in Middle Earth comes to an end with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.  It has been one of cinema’s most ambitious projects and has seen the wonderful world that Tolkin created enter the mainstream in a way it had never done before.  However, there is no denying that there are still question marks over The Hobbit.  Particularly, as to whether it ever needed to be three films at all.

The third movie sees us kicking off with Smaug descending on Lake Town, the supposed big bad of the series doesn’t stick around long though, as it is all done and dusted before the title plate even pops up.  It’s a strangely flat end to the dragon that was so central to a lot of the marketing for these films.  From there, we move onto the The Battle of the Five Armies itself, which sees elves, dwarves, men, orcs and eagles clash in an epic confrontation, centered around the mountain that Thorin and company have battled their way to.

It’s a battle that in the books takes up about two lines, Bilbo is knocked out in the early stages of the conflict and awakens at the end to see the aftermath.  Of course, Jackson was never going to do that.  Instead, we have a confrontation on the most epic of scales, which includes everything from Bard (Luke Evans) riding a cart into a troll to Billy Connolly on a war pig.  There is no denying the spectacle of the thing and you can see the Braindead director in Jackson having fun.  Heads fly off left and right as the action hits its thickest points.  However, it is maybe all just a little to epic.  While Jackson has shown an affinity for last stands, whether it be the ride of the Rohirrim or Aragorn’s solo charge into the gates of Mordor, when you have twenty such last stands in one movie, it begins to wear thin.  You can’t help but get goosebumps as Thorin leads his company from Erebor into the battle, but by the end, these moments have lost their magic.

There is also the fact that despite the film being over two hours long, several characters feel a bit short-changed.  Beorn turns up, leaps from an eagle, kills a few orcs and is never seen again.  While much like the second film, there is too little Bilbo Baggins.  Martin Freeman has embodied that role perfectly, making it his own and he has been a highlight of these three films.  However, here is pushed to the side as Thorin (Richard Armitage) takes centre stage, battling against the dragon sickness that creeps into his heart.  Likewise, the White Councils confrontation with the Necromancer feels too short.  It was one of the few moments not mentioned in the book that it made sense to film and while it is cool to see some of the power that Elrond, Galadriel and Saruman wield, it still feels like too little.  The battle is over quickly and we return to the five armies.

Talking about adding things to the book, the only moment that feels completely unTolkien is the continuation of the elvish, dwarf romance.  It’s completely unneeded and is awkwardly acted out on-screen in a way that never feels real.  It’s the one thing over all six movies that Jackson has included, that I just can’t get behind and it tries the patience of even the most hardened Tolkien fan.

I sound very negative, but the truth is there is a lot to like in this movie.  Even at over two hours long it zips along at a fair pace, never once dragging like the first one.  The battle also deserves a lot of credit, some of the scenes are wonderfully shot and while CG orcs don’t have got the heft of those included in Lord of the Rings, they do die in some pretty epic ways.  It also avoids Return of the King syndrome, by taking too long to end.  Bilbo returns home to his Hobbit hole and we say goodbye in a spot that will work perfectly for those insane enough to try to watch all six movies back to back.

All in all, Jackson’s attempts at Middle Earth have been a triumph, but The Hobbit franchise still stands far below the magnificence of Lord of the Rings.  These three films have some great moments, but there is too much waffle and over indulgence laced throughout them.  Somewhere in among all of this there is one rather brilliant film and if anyone ever wants to edit that together, I’ll be at the front of the line to pick it up.