The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Rating: 6/10 (24 December 2014)

The Middle Earth films, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien, finally come to an end, the first of the prequels to The Lord of the Rings films was good, the second was just as good, I didn't know what to expect from this final instalment, directed by Peter Jackson. Basically the film picks up where it left off, the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) has escaped the Lonely Mountain and starts to attack and destroy Laketown, with Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit (Martin Freeman) and the dwarfs devastatingly looking from above, but it is Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) who, after breaking out his prison cell, kills the dragon with the black arrow, and the beast falling to its death kills the fleeing Master of Laketown (Stephen Fry). Survivors of Laketown praise Bard and choose him as a new leader, the dwarfs reunite in the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo, Balin (Ken Stott) and the others see Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) is afflicted with Smaug's "dragon sickness" searching for the Arkenstone, Bilbo stole it but knows he must keep it hidden, meanwhile Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) had Kili (Being Human's Aidan Turner) confess his love for her, she goes with Legolas (Orlando Bloom) to investigate Mount Gundabad. Meanwhile Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) rescues the wounded and caged Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) from Dol Guldur and the Ringwraiths, including the appearance of Sauron, with the help of Saruman (Sir Christopher Lee) and Elrond (Hugo Weaving), while Bard and the Laketown survivors shelter in Deale, with supplies and aid brought by an elf army, led by Thranduil (Lee Pace). Gandalf arrives at Dale, and Bilbo hands over the Arkenstone to Thranduil and Bard, who have formed an alliance, the allied armies gather at Erebor ready to battle against the oncoming Orc army, once his sanity is regained Thorin joins other dwarfs in the fight also, battle eventually begins between the evil beasts and the adjoining human and elf armies, there is a point when Bilbo has to use the Ring of power to become invisible and warn the others of the danger coming. During the battle the Eagles come to bring reinforcements, Kili is killed and Tauriel realises she may have had similar feelings like he had for her, antagonists are defeated, Bolg (John Tui) is killed by Legolas who leaves to meet a ranger named Strider he has been told about, and Azog (Manu Bennett) is killed by Thorin who is mortally wounded during their fight and makes peace with Bilbo before dying. In the end Bilbo bids farewell to the remaining dwarfs and journeys home to the Shire with Gandalf, the wizard warns him that he knows that he has the ring and cautions that he will be watching him, Bilbo finds that his possessions are being auctioned, everyone assumed he was dead being gone a long time, he clarifies his identity and returns home, sixty years later Old Bilbo (Sir Ian Holm) is reflecting on the past journey as he starts to write his book, There and Back Again, he gets a knock on the door and is happy to be visited by Gandalf. Also starring Sylvester McCoy as Radagast, Billy Connolly as Dain, James Nesbitt as Bofur, Graham McTavish as Dwalin, Dean O'Gorman as Fili, Mark Hadlow as Dori, Jed Brophy as Nori, Adam Brown as Ori, John Callen as Oin, Peter Hambleton as Gloin, William Kircher as Bifur and Stephen Hunter as Bombur. I agree that Freeman is more a supporting character in this one, McKellen is still majestic as the wise wizard, Armitage is good, Lily and Bloom play characters not featured in the original book and invented for the film but they make their parts justified, and the other supporting stars do well also. To be honest, these films for me are like the Star Wars prequels all over again, the three Hobbit films can't compete with the outstanding original Lord of the Rings Trilogy, but director Jackson does still do a good job, the action is paced well, the fight sequences, especially on a collapsing bridge and a frozen waterfall, are great, and the special effects for the big battles sequences and many creatures are fantastic, a most worthwhile fantasy adventure. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Sound Editing, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Special Visual Effects. Good!