The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

A gleaming issue of Empire arrived at my door proudly boasting an image of Thorin set to a white background. I wanted to go into Peter Jackson's final instalment without any knowledge prior to it. And so began my eternal struggle to resist the temptation to read the preview, when the day finally came all of this had paid off as I was pleasantly surprised by the final conclusion. It bears a modest running time of 144 minutes which goes against the infamously long Lord of the rings trilogy formulae. After you see the establishing shot of Lake town burning as the camera flies along side Smaug, you can relax as you know you are in safe hands. The first twenty minutes is pure cinema and lives up to the name Peter Jackson has made for himself. For a film that is 144 minutes long I felt that the minutes just flew by as the performances and raw atmosphere carried the film. All we are left to do is gaze forlornly (like Bilbo Baggins) as this epic of a film passes us by. I am only merely scratching the surfaces as words could not describe what an awe striking enjoyment it is. The cinematography is beautiful as the camera sweeps across luscious landscapes, which is all beautifully scored by Howard Shore plus it's high frame rate it is a pleasure to behold. It was worth the wait spanning of a decade to witness this phenomenon. It would be impossible to write a review of a Hobbit film without sneaking in a mention of Lord of the rings so here it goes: The battle of the five armies is better than The fellowship of the ring. Those words now stain this review however it is a strong opinion which I hold. The plot is mainly Thorin Oakenshield's story but as Martin Freeman pointed out in a interview "Is it called the Thorin" he retorted in a jokey manor. The highlight of it is the battles which rage on for almost have the film and they are a sight for sore eyes (sore eyes that have prior to that witnessed some dull battles). One of the many standout moments is when the dwarfs are holding their shields in a barricade and suddenly the elves leap over them blades first as if they are a run way. This is good for two reasons 1. as we all know there has been conflict between these two races and for them to share a scene this well choreographed is a spectacle, 2. it reminds you that no one could have directed Tolkien's books better than Peter Jackson. However there are a few reservations, there is a line in the film where Kili says to his elf lover "You make me feel alive" which could be the lyrics for a cheesy seventies disco hit plus the scene where Legolas is running up some CGI falling down debris (however maybe that's just me being cynical). There is also the small matter that Bombur in the book becomes so morbidly obese that they have to leave him (this is a matter for fans to quarrel about). With the other films in the franchise the soundtrack was just reprises of themes but with the battle of the five armies the score is something new and fresh. It is worth staying part-way through the credits as the concept art which is on display as the credits roll is astounding. The credits are the only reason to see it in 3D as you can admire the artwork as they credits flow past like a stream. I stayed until the definitive end of the credits not because I was waiting for a post credit scene it was my way of bidding farewell to Middle-earth. When they had finished I turned around and I was the only person left, the usher blurted out a well done and I departed. Verdict: You will thoroughly enjoy this film if you are a fan of the others. It is a triumphant finale to a series which will continue to be loved for generations to come.