The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (2014, Dir. Peter Jackson, New Zealand/USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) *** Starring: Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman, Luke Evans After managing to wrest a vast dwarf treasure from the clutches of the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) a band of dwarves and a Hobbit accomplice named Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) have even greater dangers to face when other groups want to claim the treasure for their own and one of the dwarves, Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage) a would-be king starts to succumb to insanity. Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth after his Lord Of The Ring trilogy (2001 – 2003) has been divisive to say the least with one of the biggest criticisms being that of using a similar structure of three very long films that worked fine with Lord Of The Rings (a three-part tome of such size that Jackson’s epic productions are actually remarkably efficient) but translates less well to The Hobbit, one book of fairly average length that has been stretched out. Personally, I’ve always found the Hobbit trilogy to be perfectly entertaining and valid. Whilst it may not have quite the grandeur of Lord Of The Rings, its breezier and jollier tone helps it avoid the occasional drudgery that occasionally inflicts on Jackson’s admittedly brilliant earlier films. However, it is surprising that Battle Of The Five Armies isn’t quite the long conclusion that might be expected. Okay, the film is two hours and forty minutes long; significantly longer than your average Hollywood blockbuster but it’s thirty five minutes shorter than The Return Of The King (2003) with Jackson seemingly taken a tiny bit of that criticism for making his movies too long to heart. As a result, Battle Of The Five Armies is a light relief from being too overbearing but also results in it not being as grand a finale as expected. Much of the film focuses on the dramatic elements surrounding Thorin and until the final half our lead in the trilogy up until that point, Bilbo has taken a backseat. Martin Freeman does a good job but his mannered everyman style is admittedly less suited to such a conclusion as the small yet thunderous Richard Armitage or Luke Evans’ slightly swashbuckling hero giving the film a more sombre tone but still lighter than the likes of Lord Of The Rings with a recurring supporting part by Ryan Gage as a cowardly stooge and the presence of comedians Stephen Fry and Billy Connolly. However after the build-up comes the concluding battle and it showcases one of Jackson’s greatest skills as a filmmaker; a man who can take an action set piece and make it extraordinarily long without getting tiresome or confusing. It has a natural build and evolution even if it does take some rather unusual turns with the ideas of plausibility being strained towards the final stretch of the battle. So, as a concluding chapter to Peter Jackson’s second Middle Earth trilogy, all that can be said is that it’s satisfactory. Personally, much like Lord Of The Rings I feel Jackson spent most of the best material in part one and the highlights trickled in the latter two films, but there’s still fun to be had. It’s got drama, humour and is very much in keeping with the tone of the older trilogy which makes for nice accompaniment. History will probably not judge these films as an equal to Lord Of The Rings, but for setting up that story, this film and its two siblings work fine.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 19:23:47 +0000
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