Piece of Climax

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2014)

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the final part of Peter Jackson's trilogy split adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's book. Compared to the last two, this installment consists more action, trying to give the explosive payoff that many of the fans were waiting for, for like two years. And as an action blockbuster, The Battle of the Five Armies does succeed, but it still feels like a fragment. A part of the story that shouldn't be treated as a singular experience, that the story and character development from the past films should be fresh in the mind to be compelled with this particular experience. The movie itself is pretty dazzling on its own, but that is probably just it. This is just one epic climax extended into a two hour or so feature film.
Just like The Desolation of Smaug, this installment feels really dependent on the other films for the viewers to appreciate the feature as a whole. The first Hobbit movie already has a standalone arc to leave the audience satisfied, but the following two are really reliant to each other that only seeing one of them at the same day won't really be enough of an experience, in spite of already having the largest spectacles of the franchise. The Battle of the Five Armies offers more epic warfare than anything else: the tone is darker, there's a lot of impressive set pieces and remarkable (and even emotional) thrills here and there. There is also some character moments that needed to be challenged, but they are only scattered around and resolved a little too easily. Still, the real conflict here is the war and the film does a great job for that, but it also gets exhausting until it becomes dramatic near the end of the fights.
The amount of battles is probably ultimate, but you could point out some memorable bits. This is not one of those blockbusters that just throw away some random CGI flare, though it's sometimes getting there, but director Peter Jackson still chooses to be creative at many turns of the warfare. Even though there's too much special effects on screen, it still doesn't let it be just a grandeur design, there is tension containing in those digital images. While the majority of the film is all fighting, the cast still manages to shine in their characters. With Martin Freeman sticking to the same charm and earnestness his performance has always been as Bilbo Baggins. The rest of them, while more serious, does compellingly in their important moments of the movie.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is fun, once you get used to it, but it really feels like just a missing ending of the last one, been found for a whole year. There is a reason why this should have been a single movie or at least a double split. Stretching an entire climax for nearly two hours is probably too much of an experience. Even with the filmmakers handling each action scene well, it still doesn't make for a good replacement of a better narrative. What the fans should be thankful is it didn't become some The Matrix Revolutions fiasco or a lazy special effects show that distracts the viewers out of nothing. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is still a good conclusion of the saga, leaving us its last good thrills and emotions.