RETURN to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies to witness the brotherhood of 13 dwarves, a wizard and a hobbit reach its journey’s end.
Before you bid farewell to Peter Jackson’s glorious film adaptation of Tolkien magic, feast your eyes one last time on the spectacular cinematic recreation of fantasy locations and landscapes as well as diverse and colourful characters conjured up by the ingenious English professor for his 1937 children’s novel The Hobbit.
While Jackson and his screenplay team members Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro have taken the creative liberty to modify certain parts of the narrative from its original source material for this last instalment of The Hobbit film trilogy (including a dash of romance), the very essence of Tolkien’s timeless tale remains intact.
Disputes and wars as well as compromise and cooperation between different groups bent on fulfilling their own selfish needs and goals continue to be well captured here, just the way Tolkien’s evocative and multifaceted storytelling had intended it to be.
Of course not all purist Tolkienites are amenable to the changes undertaken by Jackson.
In spite of this, at the culmination of a mammoth adventure series on the silverscreen, one still to admit that his adaptations over the years have brought the words and ideas of Tolkien to so many people who would otherwise not pick up the books and turn the written pages of the lore for themselves.
Picking up directly from the cliffhanger of its predecessor The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, the film burns the audience with a fiery beginning courtesy of the formidable and pompous dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). Yes, do yourself a favour by watching the earlier two films first — or at least its immediate predecessor The Desolation Of Smaug — else you might just get a bit disoriented.
Smaug, however, soon loses out to the deft hands and sharp eyes of Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans). Given more prominence and a stronger character development this time round, Evans raises Bard to a higher plane with more display of gallantry and wise leadership.
The thing is, once the world is rid of the devilish dragon, all attention turns to Erebor, also known as the Lonely Mountain. The treasures and riches that lie beneath its halls, especially the much coveted Arkenstone, beguile the hearts of dwarves, men, elves, and orcs alike.
Interestingly, on top of that, the Lonely Mountain’s strategic geographical location also appears to be enticing to the discerning few who are aware of this and hold a strong agenda to exploit it — Erebor is pretty much like Afghanistan in our present world, you see.
But the dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) who has assumed the mantle of The King Under The Mountain, believe that since Erebor is their rightful home, they would not forsake it once more.
Driven by a maddening lust for gold and riches which they call “the dragon sickness”, Thorin would not even budge to honour his word to share the wealth with those whom he had promised to, much to the dismay of the hobbit Bilbo (Martin Freeman) — not to mention Bard and Thranduil the Elven King (Lee Pace).
However, dire circumstances bring the dwarves, men, and elves together as they fight the merciless onslaught of the evil powers in the form of orcs, bats, and other hideous wicked creatures who are bent on their total annihilation.
For a good portion of the show, expect the usual Middle-Earth war battle mayhem that cuts across species, Jackson-style. One fresh take, though, involves Thranduil’s son Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and some fancy footwork as the elf leaps from one brick to another a la Mario in the timeless Super Mario Bros video game from the 1980s era.
But unlike The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) movie trilogy’s rousing conclusion in the final instalment The Return Of The King, The Hobbit franchise comes to a close a notch lower with The Battle Of The Five Armies.
Despite the much-welcomed appearances of the LOTR stalwarts such as Saruman the White (a formidable Christopher Lee, as always), Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) adding some enlightening twist, the film does really not pack a solid punch as one would expect.
Don’t get me wrong, the grim yet sprawling epic is a laudable initiative. And the cast certainly do not let you down with their notable performances. A special mention must go to Armitage who skilfully channelled an angst-ridden Thorin that is reminiscent of a tortured and embittered Shakespearean lead character.
Unfortunately, beyond the robust acting and breathtaking set pieces, there is not much else to look forward to. Either the magic is lost in this third act or we have simply been too saturated by the earlier films in both The Hobbit and the LOTR franchises.
Nonetheless, this is the finale to another era of Jackson’s painstaking filmmaking endeavours and therefore still worth a watch.