The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Rounding out the last few pages of Tolkien’s novel “the Hobbit,” Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and the dwarves under the leadership of Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Ermitage) are left to comb the kingdom of Erebor in search of the arkenstone, the mythic crown jewel of the dwarves. Meanwhile, armies of Elfs, Orcs, Dwarves and Humans have set their sights on the kingdom’s treasure and it’s strategic military position. The table is set for one more monstrous battle for middle earth, but who can, should, and will prevail? And what of this dragon sickness that Thorin appears to be suffering from?
Playing perhaps as the strongest and most thoughtful of the Hobbit trilogy Director Peter Jackson has managed to take what was once depicted as an animated scribble in the 1977 telling of the same story and fleshed it out into a full two hours and twenty minutes of axes swinging, arrows flying, Orcs bellowing, and dragons soaring. And yet, even with all of it’s magic and wizardry somehow the great mystery of the Hobbit continues, how does a film let alone a trilogy manage to survive absent of heart and soul? The darkness of the Necromancer (Benedict Cumberbatch) must truly be at work here. Mildly distracting age reversal and softening CGI work also comes as a surprising shortcoming, especially considering that so much of the film actually spins from the patient hands of CGI artists and animators, ho hum. So, while the film does play as a who’s who of Tolkien lore with appearances from Galadriel (Kate Blanchett), Saruman (Christopher Lee) and Elrond (Hugo Weaving), this final installment feels a bit like a college senior in the last few weeks of school, ready to be done and on to new adventures. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is rated PG-13.