Peter Jackson sure can craft an epically scoped battle. The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies thunderously ends the prequel trilogy to the Lord of the Rings franchise. Die hards and casual fans will be content at the final link between this trilogy and LOTR. Parting is such sweet sorrow, Middle Earth.
The Desolation of Smaug’s ending bleeds right into The Battle of the Five Armies beginning, with Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) attacking Lake Town. Bard (Luke Evans) successfully thwarts Smaug’s efforts, letting Thorin (Richard Armitage) and the other dwarves enter the Lonely Mountain for their treasure and barricade themselves in. With Smaug dispatched, other groups lay their claim on the mountain, including Bard’s followers and Thranduil (Lee Pace) and the elves. The tense staredown between dwarves, elves, and men leaves the orcs undetected to surprise attack everyone in the area, unless Gandalf (Ian McKellan) can free himself from the clutches of Sauron.
This battle rivals Man of Steel’s in terms of running length (about 45 minutes). This one is third for Jackson behind 2) Pelennor Fields from Return of the King and 1) Helm’s Deep. However, those battles are all timers, and The Battle of the Five Armies was merely great. All of Peter Jackson’s tools are used to service the big fight: the lead up builds lots of tension through stare downs and seething anger. Characters we have grown to care about all get big moments either to save loved ones or do something quixotic. Majestic tracking shots establish who is winning at what time. Great CGI beasts unexpectedly show up to pop the eyes. The CGI sequences combined with watching fan favorites shine and rise to the occasion make sure The Battle of the Five Armies satisfies the die hards and significant others of the die hards alike.
If only this film had more characters to root for. I’ve already been pretty clear about the tie ins with the larger Middle Earth universe in my previous two reviews. Early on, there is a scene that entirely exists for fan service of the LOTR characters that so wildly tries to tie in this series to Frodo’s quest that it borders on irrationality and clangs violently against the tone of the film, which is one of redemption and introspection. Because very little character development was given to Bard or Thranduil in the other bloated prequels, their paths to audience support is very rushed, with Bard’s arc much more successful than the elf’s. Some of the dwarves outside of Thorin are given enough personality that their fates matter, especially Kili (Aidan Turner), but 9 out of 13 major characters are essentially interchangeable (I hoped Jackson would give them each little moments to no avail) and NEVER challenge Thorin. The biggest disappointment of The Battle of the Five Armies is Thorin’s immediate plot-servicing transformation from noble leader to greedy jerk. This change exists solely for the purpose of his redemption later, and could have been handled more smartly early on with immensely satisfying results.
I now understand how important Martin Freeman is to The Hobbit now. With all the spectacle unfolding around him, Bilbo is very well grounded and rational, and Freeman excels at befuddlement toward outrageous situations. Luke Evans exudes command and importance as Bard, delivering the biggest cheers in the theater. Richard Armitage sells Thorin’s arc as best he can, and mostly earns his BIG moments in the battle. Evangeline Lilly and Aidan Turner are very cute together, though Lilly’s arc could have used less Lee Pace explanation (he is wasted in this). Ian McKellan and Orlando Bloom do superhuman things; boy did they really up the ante on Legolas’s skill in battle. Familiar faces will pop up for a scene or two, but really don’t add anything to this movie.
The Battle of the Five Armies concludes the greatest fantasy epic in cinematic history. Peter Jackson should feel satisfied for wrapping things up in a nice little package that should leave all fans mostly content. I have beef though, Peter: no one, not even Legolas, should know how to jump from falling brick to falling brick to get back onto a ledge. Not even Super Mario could do that.