Thursday, January 1, 2015

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Movie Review

Luke Evans & Orlando Bloom (r) star in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

It's Over: It's Finally Over

Rotten Tomatoes Plot: From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the third in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies brings to an epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves. Having reclaimed their homeland from the Dragon Smaug, the Company has unwittingly unleashed a deadly force into the world. Enraged, Smaug rains his fiery wrath down upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town. Obsessed above all else with his reclaimed treasure, Thorin sacrifices friendship and honor to hoard it as Bilbo's frantic attempts to make him see reason drive the Hobbit towards a desperate and dangerous choice. But there are even greater dangers ahead. Unseen by any but the Wizard Gandalf, the great enemy Sauron has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain. As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide - unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends in the epic Battle of the Five Armies, as the future of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.


What's another 144 minutes between friends? I've spent over 1,000 minutes (across six films) watching dwarves, elves and hobbits; and I must admit, I'm sick to death of it. The final chapter is the shortest, but sadly the least entertaining of the franchise. Non-stop battling/violence fills the last hour with new armies joining in at every turn. It's exhausting to a fault, not to mention unbelievable. Jackson literally tosses a grizzly bear into the fray towards the end; and nobody bats an eye. Deserves an F, but Bloom finally runs out of arrows at one point. Good riddance.

GradeD-