Entertaining Despite A Mediocre Script

Rating: 7/10 (29 July 2017)

Part 3 of "The Hobbit" trilogy shows the fate of the dragon Smaug, Bilbo Baggins (played by Martin Freeman), dwarf king Thorin and his band of dwarf followers, the "lonely mountain" and the enormous treasure hidden within it, and the five armies that will do battle for the mountain fortress and its riches. But more things are unexplained. Perhaps in the extended cuts more will be revealed; but it's still inexcusable for a theatrical cut to omit so many answers to so many questions.
Multiple story lines play out in rapid fire sequence — this movie has probably the shortest running time of all six "Hobbit" and "LOTR" movies — resulting in a very fast paced movie that sometimes feel a bit rushed. Of course, the usual shenanigans are here: characters that defy the laws of physics — or maybe physics are different in Middle Earth — and able to take a great amount of battle damage without being truly harmed. Hey, if a character is fairly invincible, it kind of takes away the element of suspense that he or she may be killed. Granted, a few of the characters get killed after killing millions of the enemy, but at this point it becomes a bit silly and the impact of those deaths are greeted with a shrug and another bite of the hotdog.
Now, my most memorable movie moment of "The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies": the scene when Thorin (played by Richard Armitage, who looks a lot like Mel Gibson's Braveheart in his dwarf look) has an internal struggle, realizing what his greed has done to him and the choice he has to make if he doesn't want to follow the dreadful path his ancestors took.
Although full of problems that would be deserving of a much lesser grade, "The Five Armies" was still an enjoyable, entertaining feast for my eyes. Although I wonder if my forgiving nature is the result of having watched this movie for free (thanks, Library!).
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