This is a tough one to write. It's tough because I have a deep affection for The Lord of the Rings trilogy and I won't out-and-out say the latest and last installment in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy is a bad movie. There is plenty to point at and say that is well done. But there is also plenty to criticize. Some of these criticisms are centered on just this movie, The Battle of the Five Armies. Some of them are faults that have carried over from the previous two films, An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug, and can be attributed to the entire series of prequels. But first let's dive into the plot of this "Defining Chapter" . . . .
This third movie begins moments after the second one ended. Smaug, the evil fire-breathing dragon, has been roused from his slumber by Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and the remaining company of dwarves that had set out to reclaim their ancient kingdom from the vile lizard's clutches. Smaug swoops down from the sky and begins to burn the city of Laketown.
Smaug is the greatest achievement to come out of this prequel series. He is awesome to behold and Bendict Cumberbatch's voice work is perfect for the character. Unfortunately, for Peter Jackson, he is laid low by Bard's (Luke Evans) black arrow before the title of the film even graces the screen. I would argue that the prologue that details Smaug and Bard's standoff is the only part of the movie that resonates in any real cathartic way. Almost everything else from then on for 2+ hours feels . . . hollow.
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| Smaug the Dragon lays waste to Laketown. |
After defeating the fire-breathing drake, Bard leads the survivors of Laketown to the gates of Erebor where Thorin and his party of dwarves have taken up residence. Wanting the share of the treasure that the newly crowned king promised them in the previous film, they are joined by the wood elves led by Thandruil (Lee Pace). Thorin has changed, though, now consumed by the very greed for gold that infected Smaug and his grandfather, Thror, so many years ago. He refuses to share the wealth of the Mountain with anyone, even though he gave his word. This stubbornness brings about the major conflict of the movie as legions of Men, Elves, Orcs, Dwarves and Eagles collide in the fields at the foot of the Lonely Mountain.
So why did The Battle of the Five Armies not work for me? First, the title says it all - the majority of this movie is one long battle. Most of the story and character development you already got in the previous pictures. This one is not interested in a lot of plot, just mostly action. It's a conflict that is so dependent on CGI created images it feels soulless. Remember how you felt after watching George Lucas's Star Wars prequels? Well, in many ways watching Peter Jackson's Hobbit Trilogy makes me feel the same way. When he made the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson approached it like he was making an old-school historical epic. Sure there was plenty of computer generated images in those movies as well, but they were well balanced with practical effects that gave the films a real-world feel. It's been documented that after taking years of his life to develop and deliver the original trilogy that the famous New Zealand director promised himself that he would never attempt such an undertaking again. It took him to the brink of exhaustion and took a serious toll on his health. When approaching the making of The Hobbit he decided to hand the reigns over to Mexican filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pans Labyrinth, Pacific Rim).
Unfortunately, a prolonged battle over the rights to Tolkien's classic novel led to massive delays and del Toro had to abandon the project in order to pursue his own projects. Looking back now I think this might have been the turning point for the Hobbit movies. Like most people I barely batted an eye when I heard Peter Jackson was going to swoop in and save the day, directing The Hobbit. It made sense, didn't it? The man who was behind one of the greatest series of movies of all time was going to return to re-create his vision in the author's first novel about Middle Earth. Then it was revealed that the approximately 300 page book would be split into three films. This made me pause. How is it possible to spread out that little bit of material over three 2+ hour movies? The answer is, you create a lot of extra stuff and make up new characters to fill the time.
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| In one of many examples of a scene in the movie that does not happen the book, Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) comes to the aid of Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen). |
The Hobbit, as a novel, is tonically very different from The Lord of the Rings. Author J.R.R. Tolkien intended it to be a story geared towards children. As a book it reads way more whimsical than his later trilogy. A hobbit named Bilbo Baggins joins the company of 13 dwarves and a wizard named Gandalf in order to help them retrieve their lost home and treasure from the clutches of the evil dragon, Smaug. It's a simple story with very defined steps that lead to its conclusion. Jackson's biggest mistake in my eyes was to try and connect these three Hobbit films in style and tone to his early series. I can't help but feel the Guillermo del Toro's take would have suited the book more. He could have brought the childlike point-of-view that was necessary to be true to the original work. He also would have insisted on more practical effects. It looks to me that Jackson didn't want to invest the time and effort it would have taken to scout locations and create the makeup, costumes, etc. on the scale of what he had done before. He opted to digitize a very large percentage of these films. I mean, we don't even get an Orc that is a man in full costume in these movies. Is it too much to ask to have a practical Orc? Like George Lucas before him I am sad to admit that Jackson fell prey to the ease of digital effects on a massive scale. And this third film is the worst example of this over-reliance on CGI.
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| The Battle of the Five Armies, as imagined by J.R.R. Tolkien is a very brief moment at the climax of The Hobbit that is stretched to fill an entire 2+ hour movie. |
Don't get me wrong, I feel that the Hobbit trilogy is a superior series of movies when compared to the Star Wars prequels. The performances are better, the character development is better, and the effects are obviously better. But I feel there were opportunities missed to make a great movie and these were mostly encountered early on in the process. This third movie suffers the most from these choices. By the time the climactic showdown between Thorin and Azog takes place I felt disconnected. Richard Armitage is great as Thorin. It's too bad that he has to face off against a villain as flat as Azog. All of the qualities that made Gollum such a dynamic CGI character are absent in the albino Orc. He looked more fake to me in this third installment than in the previous two. Maybe the work on him was rushed here, but it took me out of the moment. At times I felt like I was watching a video game with great graphics instead of an epic movie.
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| Azog the Defiler rallies his forces for battle. |
Let's talk about the good, though. I've already mentioned Smaug and how great he was realized on the screen. The performances (those coming from actual actors) are solid with Martin Freeman and Armitage leading the pack. The early scene with Elrond (Hugo Weaving), Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Saruman (Christopher Lee) saving Gandalf (Ian McKellen) from the clutches of Sauron was also entertaining, even though it is far removed from the actual plot of the original book. Seeing Saruman let loose and kick ass was pretty awesome and Galadriel's confrontation with the Dark Lord was pretty cool.
Ultimately, The Battle of the Five Armies is a mixed bag at best. It has moments that are really great but these are few and far between. It suffers from being a bloated, overly-stuffed epic trying to compensate for the limited amount of source material that had to be spread over three pictures. It is my least favorite of the three Hobbit movies and I'm sad to say ends Jackson's run of Middle Earth films on a somewhat flat note.
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