The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) Directed by Peter Jackson. Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage. IMDB says: “Bilbo and Company are forced to engage in a war against an array of combatants and keep the terrifying Smaug from acquiring a kingdom of treasure and obliterating all of Middle-Earth.”
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the last film in the Hobbit trilogy and the last planned movie in the Lord of the Rings film series. This film wraps up the adventure of Bilbo Baggins as he accompanies a line of Dwarves lead by Thorin Oakensheild to reclaim their place under the Lonely Mountain. The battle between the five armies begins after the conclusion of the fight against Smaug that began in the previous film, The Desolation of Smaug.
The Battle of the Five Armies does truly pick up right where the second Hobbit film ended. If you haven’t seen the Desolation of Smaug for a year like I had, you may want to watch it again before heading into this one. I found myself spending most of the opening scenes getting back into the swing of things. Essentially, there is no ramp-up to the action. This is beneficial because there is a lot happening in the rest of the story.
While there have been many people that feel negatively about the book being split into three films, I found some aspects of this film hurried. I personal have not read the novel, but scenes like the battle against Sauron were dealt with very quickly. A majority the the film is reserved for Thorin dealing with obtaining his place under the mountain and the titular Battle of Five Armies which makes sense for concluding the main story.
Even though Thorin is more front and center in this film compared to the first two, Bilbo still plays an important role throughout and has some great dialogue. It was often a reminder of why Gandalf chose him to go on the adventure with the Dwarves.
The Battle of the Five Armies is the first Hobbit movie that I felt the 3D got in the way of the cinematic feel of the film. It seemed to interfere with the scale of the landscape more in this film than I remember in The Unexpected Journey. Perhaps it was because I remember the grand scale of the final battle in The Return of the King and wanted to take in as much of that feeling as possible during the battle in Five Armies, but the 3D sometimes prevented me from focusing exactly when I wanted a clear view.
Like the Lord of the Rings, this trilogy is also made to be watched back to back. It’s great that all of the films have been released and the story has been completed. Peter Jackson has created a massive experience with these films and it’s bittersweet to see it come to a conclusion.
