The Legacy of Middle-Earth: Movie 03: The Battle of the Five Armies

***The Legacy of Middle-Earth: Movie 03: The Battle of the Five Armies*** is a 2023 Japanese comedy adventure film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. It is the third and final installment in The Hobbit trilogy, and the third film in *The Legacy of Middle-Earth* (franchise).

## Summary

The Battle of the Five Armies concludes the adventure of Sarada and Max's company, who take possession of the treasure beneath the Mount Fuji as various factions clash over it, while Ommadon and his forces make their move.

## Film Plot

The film begins with Sarada Uchiha and her friends watch from the Mount Fuji as the dragon Smaug sets Laketown ablaze. Gon Freecss breaks out of prison and kills Smaug with the black arrow. Smaug's falling body crushes the Master of Laketown and his cronies, who were escaping on a boat with the town's gold. Gon Freecss becomes the new leader of Laketown and guides its people to seek refuge in the ruins of Dale. Max, now possessing the vast treasure in the mountain, searches obsessively for the Arkenstone, which Sarada had previously found but kept hidden. Upon hearing that Laketown survivors have fled to Dale, he orders the entrance of the Mount Fuji sealed off.

Meanwhile, Bai-Niang, Kusuo Saiki and Melanie Rider arrive at Dol Guldur and free Sokka, sending him to safety with Goku. They battle and defeat the Nazgûl and then face Fa Hai himself. Bai-Niang defeats him in a duel of wills and banishes him and his forces to the East. Ommadon, marching on Erebor with his vast Orc army, sends Marcus to Mount Gundabad to summon their second army. Makoto and Shirayuki witness the march of Ommadon's army, bolstered by Orc berserkers and giant bats.

Kaguya-Hime and her army arrive in Dale to reclaim a treasure once withheld from them by Tsunade. Gon askes Max for the share of gold previously promised to the people of Laketown, but Max refuses. Sokka arrives at Dale to warn Max and Gon of Ommadon, but Reina dismisses him. Sarada sneaks the Arkenstone out of Erebor and gives it to Nico and Mei Kamino so that they can trade it for the promised treasures and prevent a war. Reina angrily refuses the proposal, while Sarada chides her for letting greed cloud her judgement. Reina nearly kills Sarada but is stopped by Max. Ash Ketchum arrives with his army, and a battle of Dwarves against Elves and Men almost ensues, until Ommadon's army arrives. The forces of Thorin and Company, Trollshaws and Rivendell & Mirkwood and Lake-Town, immediately band together against the Dale and Erebor. A second front is opened when the Dale and Erebor attack Tokyo, forcing Gon to withdraw his forces to defend the city.

Inside the shrine, Reina suffers traumatic hallucinations of being swallowed up by gold before regaining his sanity and leading her company to join the battle. Makoto rides with Nico, Melanie Rider and Sawa Okita to join the battle. Meanwhile, Bai-Niang and Kusuo Saiki arrive to warn everyone of Ommadon's arrival, and Sarada volunteers to relay the news to Max, using his magic ring to move through the combat unseen. Makoto kills Tarrlok as Sarada and the gang are forced to watch. Marcus overpowers Shirayuki and Kaguya-Hime arrived, who had come to her aid. Kaguya-Hime battles Marcus and eventually kills him. Tsunade arrived, and the Orcs are finally defeated. In the climax, Sarada engages Ommadon in a duel and kills him. Sarada and Max become best friends, while Makoto nursed Goku back to health. Tsunade advises Kaguya-Hime to seek out a Dunedain ranger in the north who goes by the name Strider. Max is recovered from his wounds by God and Tsunade is now chieftess of Tokyo.

One year later, Sarada receives a visit from Sokka on her 13th birthday and bids farewell to Tsunade and began a new journey as the film ends.

## Voice Cast

* Cherami Leigh as Sarada Uchiha
* Kayzie Rogers as Max
* Jack DeSena as Sokka
* Kether Donohue as Zoe Drake
* Laura Stahl as Aiger Akabane
* Johnny Yong Bosch as Nate Adams
* Janet Varney as Korra
* Jillian Michaels as Shippō
* Erika Harlacher as Mei Kamino
* Chloë Grace Moretz as Kaguya-Hime
* Julie Lemieux as Hunter Steele
* Suzanne Goldish as Christopher Thorndyke
* Veronica Taylor as April O'Neil
* Zendaya as Bai-Niang
* Jerry Jewell as Kusuo Saiki
* Sean Schemmel as Goku
* Robbie Daymond as Mitsuki
* Sarah Natochenny as Ash Ketchum, Delia Ketchum
* Natalie Portman as Sawa Okita
* Ariel Winter as Yuki
* Mackenzie Foy as Melanie Rider
* Erica Mendez as Gon Freecss
* Erica Lindbeck as Makoto
* Abby Trott as Reina
* Leonardo DiCaprio as Nico
* Brina Palencia as Shirayuki
* Kate Higgins as Sakura Uchiha
* Yuri Lowenthal as Sasuke Uchiha
* Klara Leopold as Caroline
* Dan Green as Norman
* André Sogliuzzo as Hakoda
* Alex McKenna as Senna
* James Remar as Tonraq
* Jennifer C. Johnson as Lindsey Thorndyke
* Katherine Heigl as Hana
* Steve Blum as Orochimaru
* James Earl Jones as Ommadon
* Jason Griffith as Marcus
* Maile Flanngan as Menma Uzumaki
* Mike Pollock as Dr. Eggman
* Scottie Ray as Shredder
* Jemaine Clement as Fa Hai
* Dee Bradley Baker as Tarrlok
* Mel Gibson as Narrator

## Trivia

* This is the third and final film to be distributed by Toho.
* This is the only The Hobbit film where all the characters come together.
* This is the last film to be traditionally-animated.