Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett
Plot: After reclaiming Erebor, Thorin Oakenshield is threatened by the same madness that drove his grandfather mad, and refuses to listen to reason as elves, men and orcs descend upon the Lonely Mountain to take its treasures.
Review: So we can finally bid goodbye to Middle Earth. Or can we? Peter Jackson has stated he wants to do more, but then again he may not.
The fact remains though, The Battle Of the Five Armies is epic as it should be, despite not running longer than the previous two Hobbit films. The battles are huge, intense and yes, even personal, as the best battles here are not the ones involving large scope and numbers, but raw one on one scraps.
As the story goes, Smaug the dragon has left Erebor and goes straight to Lake Town, where he faces off with Bard the Bowman. This leaves Thorin and his fellow dwarves to finally reclaim their home and with it, its large wealth. But with it comes a price: Thorin grows more and more paranoid that everyone around him will betray him, and outside forces will take away his home again. Meanwhile, the people of Lake Town, elven King Thranduil and a massive army of orcs come knocking at their door.
We all know Peter Jackson can do the massive epic stuff he's done five times before, so it goes without saying that as far as cinematography, visual effects, set design and other technical aspects are concerned, they all come together seamlessly to make this film as thrilling as possible. Thus, it will be the other things that matter, namely script, acting and characters that decides how well this film actually fares. In this regard, I'd say it's mostly top notch.
As in the previous trilogy, where we saw Frodo and Aragorn become the heroes they didn't think they'd become, here we see Bard, Thorin and Bilbo do the same. Luke Evans is exceptional as Bard, who becomes the reluctant hero that stands up for Lake Town against Smaug, even as we notice that he only really wants to keep his family safe and protect his fellow townsfolk. Bilbo as usual, finds the courage to do the right thing and save his friend Thorin from himself, and Martin Freeman does well in the role. However, once again it is Richard Armitage that impresses the most as Thorin, who goes from vulnerable king to determined leader of the dwarves. His final one on one fight with orc leader Azog is one to remember. Other cast members such as Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly and the men who play the dwarves (especially Aidan Turner as Kili) do their parts well too.
The film has a few hiccups though, like the annoying Alfrid, deputy to Master of Lake Town, who spends every single second of his screen time being a useless jerk, or the appearance of the Eagles being too brief, since they are one of the five armies after all.
But after all's been said and done, this film is truly a fitting end to the Middle Earth saga, with a couple of nods that connect it to the LOTR trilogy before it. Jackson and company have done a great job indeed, and it does make me want to revisit LOTR all over again. (8/10)
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