The finale is easily the best in the second trilogy! Nearly a perfect experience.

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2015)

This film is so close to being a ten it almost pains me to give it a 9. But then at the same time I hesitated at giving it a 9 because there were some flaws in it that were almost too frustrating to be ignored. However, when you're looking at a film and series of such epic scale you have to look at the big picture. When Peter Jackson undertakes a project of this magnitude there is bound to be some flaws so you have to balance the good and the bad and the truth is I had really enjoyed this. It is however definitive proof that there did not need to be three Hobbit films and I've said that from the beginning. The first film was very good, the second film was average at best. It felt like complete filler...left overs that were slapped together to make another movie. Now having seen the third movie I know that that middle movie was completely unnecessary. The Hunger Games series suffered from the same, splitting Mockingjay into two films simply isn't necessary. Battle of The Five Armies is visually stunning of course with some beautiful and breathtaking scenery. Too much CGI is used once again but that seems to be par for the course now for this series and other blockbuster films. The missing character depth from the second film is returned ten fold and the characters we love are even better. The film runs a little long but that is also something we've come to expect from Jackson's Lord of The Rings films. It builds up to a war you know is coming and it doesn't disappoint when the climax hits.
Richard Armitage who was very nearly lost in the shuffle of the second film comes back swinging in a brilliant finale as Thorin. He proves he deserves to be the latest King in the series as he goes from Dragon sickness to the hero he was born to be. Martin Freeman closes out his titular role in an emotional and heroic end. Freeman was a brilliant choice for Bilbo and he's terrific. The group of dwarfs that were nearly pointless in Desolation of Smaug are given back their characters and dignity in this film and you will love all of them (although I still think they are way underdeveloped compared to the original trilogy's characters.) Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Dean O'Gorman, Aiden Turner, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow and Adam Brown were underdeveloped in the series as a whole BUT they do get their just scenes in the end with especially emotional parts for most of them. Hopefully I didn't forget anyone. Thank goodness, Ian McKellen returns to a more significant role than in the second one (he was probably filming X-Men during the second film.) McKellen is amazing as Gandalf. He's probably the best character to come out of this entire series and he holds the cast together. This was no exception. Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly also return and get much better roles in this one although Bloom is still not as likable as he was in the original trilogy. Lee Pace also gets a more significant and very good role this time around.
The cast is massive and its hard to cover everyone but I can say that this was far better character development than Desolation of Smaug. The action starts immediately picking up right where the second film left off and drops you into a final battle and a perfect farewell to this iconic blockbuster series. Truthfully there were times where I thought Battle of The Five Armies simply felt like a remake of Return of The King but maybe that is more of a compliment than a negative comment. It was a climactic ending and while I don't think this trilogy needed to be three films and I also felt as though this one ran a little long, the true brilliance is in the guts behind making such an ambitious project. Jackson has created and set the bar for what we consider modern day epics. This one was a fantastic time at the movies. Bravo and farewell Middle Earth!! 9/10