Fun to watch, just not too provocative

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2014)

It's here; it's finally here. As the end of a trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies doesn't have the emotional impact that The Return of the King, but it's still fine movie-making. The titular battle is a sweeping epic worthy of turned-up speakers and rattling high definition. It's an entertaining film; it just doesn't carry with it that sheen of instant classic, as its predecessors did.
The movie picks up where the previous installment, The Desolation of Smaug, left off. Right away, we're helicoptered into dazzling action, as Smaug is attacking the floating village of Lake-town, burning homes and people alike with only revenge upon his intelligent but lizard-like brain. But it's when the monster is slain - not a giveaway, as it occurs so early in the movie - that things really get going. That's because although the Dwarfs, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) lay claim to the vast treasure, previously guarded by Smaug, beneath the Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, others want to get their beaks wet as well.
The refugees of Lake-Town, led by Bard (Luke Evans), had been promised some of the treasure in exchange for harboring the Dwarfs - and now they need it, what with no homes and few possessions and all. Meanwhile, the Elves, led by Thranduil (Lee Pace) wish to reclaim a particular artifact for themselves, as it was reportedly stolen by Dwarfs eons ago in a different battle. Oh, but that's not all. It seems that a new race of Orcs, led by Azog the Defiler, is intent on taking the mountain as a strategic stronghold. And these are no ordinary, mindless Orcs, either. These guys have skills, more than just brute force.
Thorin and his crew are in the mountain, looking for the Arkstone (a stone meant for the Dwarven King that makes him even more powerful), when Lake-Town falls. But there be madness in the mountain, madness that everyone in the party can feel is seeping into the skull of Thorin himself. As you might imagine, this makes our hero Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) a little uneasy.
And what to make of these new Orcs? It's a situation that both puzzles and worries Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), Elrond (Hugo Weaving), and Saruman (Christopher Lee) - yep, all four appear in this movie. And, what's more, what they discover has direct ramifications for the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy to follow. Another connected subplot is the burgeoning romance between Dwarf Kili (Aidan Turner) and Elf Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), with protective Legolas the Elf (Orlando Bloom) looking on concernedly, although it was not part of Tolkien's original work.
So why isn't this a stunning spectacle on par of the LOTR movies? Because of a lack of emotional punch. The Lord of the Rings books were long and detailed, and director Peter Jackson slipped as much detail into the movies as possible. Much of the journey that the Fellowship undertook was seen on screen, allowing the viewer to get to know the characters and really empathize with them. There were also dynamics within the group (Gimli/Legolas, Frodo/Sam, Boromir/Aragorn) that are missing here. Really, many of the Dwarfs are interchangeable - as their similar-sounding names indicate - and the only real dynamics are between Thorin and Bilbo and between Thorin and Everyone Else. A lack of empathy for the Dwarfs' plight makes them less protagonists and more just regular participants in the sweeping plot.
To be sure, the battle is a terrific scene. Dwarfs, Elves, Men, Orcs, perhaps something else that may not have been in the original book - they all come together in close hand-to-hand combat. For some, it's a fight to reclaim treasure; for others, it's a fight to gain the upper hand in a larger, upcoming war. And for still others, the fate of the whole of Middle-earth rests in who takes the mountain. Knowing the ultimate resolution to the battle doesn't diminish one's appreciation of it, either.
And when the movie does end, the final scene is a fitting coda. It doesn't pack the punch of the end of Return of the King, and couldn't - because readers know already of the events following The Hobbit and leading up to The Fellowship of the Ring. Jackson does a fine job with the tale, even if The Hobbit was just one short book and even if he had to invent characters (Tauriel). He did the best with what he had, and he was the right choice to direct the trilogy all along. Even his doppleganger, Guillermo del Toro, wouldn't have given us as much of a thrill ride.