‘The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies’ A Conclusion Worth Watching
Watching The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies will make you anxious and it will also make you cry, even if you’re not a die hard Tolkien fan; it’s a conclusion well worth your time.
Director Peter Jackson ends his journey through Middle-Earth with a bang. The last installment of The Hobbit trilogy offers lots of action, drama, and even tears. Few will not be moved by the final scenes, as the plot brings everyone to an epic confrontation.
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies picks up where things left of in the previous chapter, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The company of dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, brilliantly portrayed by Richard Armitage, have waken the beast from years of slumber, only to bring its wrath upon the citizens of the small village of Lake-town.
Yes, Smaug, played by Benedict Cumberbatch in motion capture, is just as terrifying as we all imagined he would be, and Jackson does a masterful job creating one of the best, if not the best, dragon in movies I’ve ever seen. As Bard the Bowman, portrayed expertly by Luke Evans, desperately tries to defend his children and the rest of his people, Smaug is spewing fire and destroying their homes.
Thorin has become overly ambitious and puts his company at risk when he refuses to hear reason and help those desperate to escape Lake-town. He only wants to recover what is rightly his and is taken to task by Biblo Baggins, convincingly played by Martin Freeman, to keep his word to protect them.
This is a dark movie with a few funny one-liners placed strategically to break the tension in the dramatic developments, if only for one second. Gone are the goofy first scenes we saw in the first part of the trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, when the dwarves were doing their shenanigans as they ate all of Bilbo’s food.
Peter Jackson’s journey began 13 years ago when he brought the Middle-Earth world to life in another J.R.R. Tolkien adaptation, The Lord of the Rings, and it ends with the release of The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies. Many compare Jackson’s saga to that of George Lucas, Star Wars, but as opposed to Lucas, Jackson has remained directly involved directing all six-films.
For The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies the director puts to good use the controversial higher frame technology he introduced earlier in the trilogy, for which he was harshly criticized. The epic battle scenes are the centerpiece of this installment, with spectacular visual effects and fight sequences that use thousands of extras.
“We’re right on the cusp of a major upheaval of the entertainment world once that technology really kicks in.”
“Films 100 years ago were 16 frames per second, no sound, no color. So if you look 100 years ahead, I don’t know what films will be, but I can guarantee they won’t be 24 frames per second and 2D. The audience is falling away, and you have to compete with all the other forms of entertainment. So to get people into the cinema, we need to experiment to survive.”
During The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, all the characters we have met in the previous two installments show the true colors and their motivations throughout are clearly revealed. Allegiances will be tested to the death and viewers will be surprised by some of the developments.
If you have read The Hobbit, you know how The Battle of the Five Armies ends. If you haven’t, I can only recommend to have some tissues available – chances are, the last moments of the film will bring tears to your eyes, as you witness the conclusion of Jackson’s trilogy.
Jackson said he has a cameo in the movie, which is “hidden in plain sight.” The director also treats fans with the return of legendary, 92-year-old actor, Christopher Lee, as he reprises his role of Saruman, the White. In all, it’s safe to say you will not be bored with this action-packed ending to The Hobbit trilogy.
Will you be going to see The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies this weekend?
[Image via Warner Bros.]
