Movie Review
Review The Hobbit : The Battle of The Five Armies
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Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and the dwarven company of Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) watch in horror as Smaug the dragon (Benedict Cumberbatch) lays waste to Laketown. When Bard (Luke Evans) bravely manages to take the dragon out, Thorin regains the mountain kingdom of Erebor by default. He succumbs swiftly to the 'Dragon Sickness' - a hungering greed to keep the treasures of Erebor all to himself, refusing a claim from elven king Thranduil (Lee Pace) and rewards for Bard and the now-homeless humans. As a battle brews between dwarfs, elves and men, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) returns from Dol Goldur with news that entire battalions of orcs are on the march as well - signs of an incipient evil that might soon sweep Middle-earth again.
Now Martin Freeman is once again fantastic as young Bilbo Baggins with his performance being really likable and the most relatable protagonist in these movies and his character is so likable it is unreal. The supporting cast is all fantastic with Ian Mckellen reprising his role as Gandalf The Grey and once again he is awesome and such a wise character that I love seeing him in action in all these movies. The performance of the movie though is definitely Richard Armitage as Thoran and his character really has great character development and his character arc is probably the most interesting of any character in this movie and helps drive this movie to another level. Another superb performance was Luke Evans as Bard and he really steps up in this movie and his character becomes more important even though I thought he was forgotten about towards the end. There are also some other great cameos from past characters such as Legolas, Elrond and especially Saruman.
The beginning is incredible, this movie never gets boring. Though the action went on for too long, it was still a very welcomed given the previous two movies. There is something entertaining about watching a group of diverse people (elves, men, dwarfs etc) all battling it out. And of course Thorins madness and obsession with his mountain and gold was great to watch. Great ending to a well done trilogy. Not a dull moment in the movie, everything kept moving but it was not too quick. Twist after twist. Just when you thought that the Dwarfs and the Elves were going to have it out, an army of Orcs shows up. The Cinematography was excellent. The special effects pretty much flawless and acting excellent.
Ultimately though, the movie has plenty of positives. Despite being full of battle sequences, Jackson fits in plenty of emotional scenes and develops many of the characters fantastically. In particular, Armitage's Thorin is different and darker, yet changes a great deal throughout the movie - all in all, a fantastic performance. There's plenty of typical Jackson humour, some brilliant cameos and some great nods to the Lord of the Rings films and some elements of the film's production, which die-hard fans will no doubt pick up on with a smile. It's also important to realise that, whilst it's easy to criticise the long battle sequences, they are entertaining, and keep the pace of the movie up throughout.
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