More of a documentary than a fantasy . . .

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2014)

. . . as the Theory of Continental Drift was all the rage as the "latest thing" during the time frame when novelist J.R.R. Tolkien wrote THE HOBBIT. As PART THREE: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES illustrates, each round of Evolution culminates in Human Dominance before Life is virtually reset to zero by mechanisms such as meteor strikes and shifts in the magnetic poles (the latter catastrophe illustrated five years ago in the film 2012). If you see FIVE ARMIES, you'll thank your lucky stars that we live in a relatively benign cycle, free of Sauron, Orcs, and many other malignant influences. True, today's world also seems devoid of wizards, elves, and hobbits, but that is NOT necessarily a negative. After all, the current controversy over Gay Marriage would pale in comparison to the first time an elven chick fell head-over-heels for an Orc dude. Furthermore, having the fate of mankind depend upon the custody of a single ring (as it does in the HOBBIT follow-up, the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) is somewhat off-putting. I sometimes can't find my car keys!