A fitting if not messy conclusion to a fitting if not messy franchise.

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2019)

This is probably the most action packed Middle-Earth film to date which is a shame because it is also the weakest. Now to say it is bad would be a disservice to the effects team and the actors but there is a lot this film leaves to be desired. Let me just get right into it by saying Thorin is at his best in this movie, I felt in the first two instalments he was a little too broody and whiny and although he still is it works a lot better in this film. His struggle with power and living up to the expectations of his family and friends is fascinating here due to no small part Richard Armitage's performance. Once again Martin Freeman is excellent but is most underused in this one. The opening sequence with Smaug decimating Lake town is thrilling, beautiful and as good as the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings gets but it is the height of the film in my opinion and the rest feels a little underwhelming in comparison. Azog vs Thorin was satisfying as we've been waiting for the rematch since the first film even if it's conclusion is bitter sweet. A little side note is the extended R-rated version of this film has a lot of gory extras which are a nice change of pace for the series and if you're old enough I recommend this version. The last thing I'd like to talk about is fittingly the end, this film does the goodbyes a lot better than Return of the King did, my biggest critique of that film was always its overly long endings and this film is very to the point and I like that, it also perfectly links up with the Fellowship of the Ring for all the marathon men and women out there. This film is all over the place in almost every aspect, tone, writing, pacing, ect. but I think the things I mentioned earlier in my review stop it from being a complete disaster. For now I'm going to give The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies a (very) generous score of 7.2. See you in my Lord of the Rings reviews!