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Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Review

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the final entry in the legendary Middle Earth saga, or at least for the time being. Seeing my second most favorite franchise finally come to an end is saddening, and with a film with so much riding on it, does it disappoint?

As for the plot, by now, you all know the story, and if not, you really need to go watch the first two Hobbit films after watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Due to several factors, including the vast changes to the source material, being split into three movies, and An Unexpected Journey not being the same as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit films have received a lot of undue negativity. The first film certainly had its problems, but the Desolation of Smaug was an exceptional fantasy adventure that not enough people give credit to, especially how the Extended Edition improved upon an already strong film. Honestly, aside from those who are angry about the source material changes, I do not understand why so many people dislike the films, and this is especially true for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. In fact, it reminded me of critically acclaimed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in that it is the epic climax to an epic saga. However, it differs in how it raises the stakes, and, despite being a prequel actually had unexpected twists (if you did not read the book). Both are great movies, but the biggest difference is that almost everyone loves Deathly Hallows yet Battle of the Five Armies received a generally mixed to negative reception.

Having not read the novel, please remember that this is a review for the film as a cinematic experience, not an adaptation. 

Directed by: Peter Jackson
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Epic,
Release Date: 17 December 2014
Running Time: 144 minutes
MMPA rating: PG-13

The Good: Thorin's descent into madness, Most impressive battle sequences since the LOTR, Bilbo and Thorin's friendship, Shockingly emotional moments, Rarely noticeable CGI, Romance almost kinda works, Suspenseful and intense action, Strong performances across the board, 

The Bad: Alfrid receives a bit too much screentime, 

Plot: 9.7/10- Having already been set in motion by the previous film, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies fulfils on the epic conclusion that we all deserved and expected. The film's themes of the corruption by power and greed provide continue throughout, which is portrayed by the struggles of the characters.
Battle of the Five Armies’ pacing is perfect. The film never dragged, and there were enough plot developments during and between the action sequences to prevent the film from being pure spectacle. The only minor issue with the plot is that the film could have used at least ten more minutes to wrap everything with a little more finesse. However, what we got was satisfying enough to leave me fulfill leaving the theater. 

Characterization: 10/10- Thorin's descent into madness provides compelling conflict to drive the plot forward, and his character arc is one of the best and most compelling aspects of the film. Bilbo is such a likable character, and he receives many opportunities to shine throughout the film with a character arc that is well executed and satisfying. Bilbo’s friendship with Thorin is another highlight of the film because it makes you even more invested in the plot and characters of the film. 
For me at least, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has the hardest hitting emotional moments that I have seen in a movie live-action film in a very long time. Throughout the film I was shocked by how much I cared for these characters, and it makes the action sequences all the more suspenseful and intense.

Gandalf is not featured in the film as much as the previous two, but his absence is not much of a negative to the film, although Bard the Bowman receives more screentime than expected, which turned out great.
Everyone’s most talked about part of the movie is the romance between Kili and Tauriel that was set up in the previous film, and the payoff is surprisingly effective. It is not necessary, but it works, and I am fine with it being in the movie.
As before, aside from Kili, Balin, and Dwalin, the rest of the dwarves are almost one big character without much individuality. Considering their lack of involvement in the previous films, this is not a detriment to the film by any mean.
My only issue with the characterization, and one of my only issue with the film in general, is that Alfrid, the Master of Laketown's advisor, receives far too much screentime than his character deserves, and some of his scenes somewhat clash with the more serious nature of the battle sequences. 

Action: 10/10- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ action sequences features the best large scale battles since the LOTR. Almost every scene is filmed with skill, and despite the abundance of nearly nonstop action, it never becomes stale or redundant. Also, we finally get to see three of Middle Earth's resident bad*sses do battle, with a certain wizard's scenes being the most impressive of the trio.   

Acting: 9.9/10- Martin Freeman and Richard Armatage are the standouts among the expansive cast, and their performances are a large part of the reason why the characters’ drama is so compelling. Ian McKellon, Luke Evens, and the rest of the supporting cast all give top notch performances, which is expected from a Middle Earth film.

Special effects: 10/10- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ special effects are a vast improvement over the previous two films. Many times, you cannot even tell whether what you are seeing is computer generated or real sets and people in makeup. Of course, certain scenes are obviously CGI, but it blends well with the rest of the film. 
After reading other opinions, it seems that others felt that the effects and CGI blatant, and maybe watching the film in 48fps and 3D made the effects less noticeable, because I am very critical when it comes to anything animated and the film is near the top of my list of best CGI ever put to film. If you did not see it in 48fps, maybe that is why your experience was different, so be sure to check back tomorrow for my discuss about the high-frame-rate version.

Soundtrack: 9.7/10- Howard Shore's score is not as noticeable as his previous work in the franchise; however, it is still fittingly epic and makes the battle sequences more exciting. 

Humor: N/A- Aside from one scene with Alfrid, the film is nearly humorless, and the lack of humor works out for the best.

Entertainment Value: 10/10- As a Middle Earth fanatic, the film is pure entertainment for me. Not even for a second did the film lose my attention.

Overall: 9.9/10- Even with two incredibly inconsequential flaws, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is an emotional and thrilling ride that more than satisfies as, presumably, the final entry in the Middle Earth saga making it the strongest entry in the trilogy.

Closing comments: Even though I have liked other films more than most fellow critics, like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Thor, I know and admit that there are a few notable flaws in said films. However, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' flaws are so minor that I do not understand in the slightest why anyone, aside from those predisposed to dislike the film, would find it anything less than a high quality film. 

Recommended for: Anyone that watched the previous films, 

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23 comments:

  1. Awesome review!! :D Yes, the movie was so good! :D I also don't get the hate, the movie was amazing! Yes, I am glad you found the death scenes surprising and effective! :) I had read the book, so I knew that Thorin, Kili, and Fili were going to die, but it was still impactful and I loved how they did it! I agree, Thorin and Bilbo's friendship was definitely the highlight of the film, as was both actor's performances. The friendship wasn't as important in the book, so I'm glad they embellished on that, since it gave the movie a lot more weight(the Middle Earth stories have some of the best friendship stories! :) ).
    Glad you also thought the Kili/Tauriel worked. Some people didn't like it at all, but I actually really liked it, it worked in the story, and I love both as characters so that helped my enjoyment of it as well.
    I really can't wait to see the Extended Edition of this film! :) It's sure to be awesome(I watched the extended edition of An Unexpected Journey a week or so ago and loved it! :D).
    I agree, the only problems I really had with the movie was that Aflrid got a tad too much screen time(I did like the scene where he was trying to pretend to be an old lady so he wouldn't have to fight XD) and that Tauriel didn't kill Bolg(I am glad she didn't die, though).
    What did you think of the ending song/credits? And what was your favorite scene?

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    1. Thank you! :D

      Apparently, the Extended Edition is going to have 30 minutes of extra footage, so I am really excited to see what they are going to add! I really hope we get more of an ending.
      Yeah, Alfrid being an old lady was funny! XD
      I liked Billy Boyle song in the end credits. I am glad they got him to do it, and I don't know what my favorite scene was. However, the best part was *SPOILERS* Thorin's death since it was done extremely well.

      -James

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  2. I'm one of those people that basically hated the Hobbit trilogy lol. So as a 9.9/10, where would you rank this movie among the Lord of the Rings movies?

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    1. The Lord of the Rings movies are on an entirely different level than the Hobbit films. They are up there with the Original Star Wars Trilogy among the best of all-time, while the Hobbit movies are among my favorites, but not Top 10 like LOTR and Star Wars.

      -James

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  3. Glad you enjoyed it James!

    Main points where I disagree with you would be plot and action. The plot was the weakest of the three by default as it was pretty much just one big battle and this film suffered the most from being split into three parts. I also found MOST of the action (except maybe the last 20 minutes) to be repetitive and derivative, especially when compared to the action setpieces at the end of Fellowship, Two Towers, Return of the King and Smaug.

    For me, this was the weakest of all 6 films (albeit not by much) and I still hold The Desolation of Smaug as the crowned jewel of this trilogy.

    Well written review though. Hopefully we can get a 4 hour Hobbit super-cut in the near future!

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    1. You have a point about the plot, but it had the best character moments, so it balances out in my mind, but to each their own.

      Desolation of Smaug is about tied with this one, but I like it just a bit more.

      -James

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  4. I enjoyed this film a lot, I think I enjoyed it more than the first two. I thought the plot was good (I don't get why people say it was all one battle. It's not, there's actually quite a setup before the first big battle begins (after Smaug is taken down.)) I actually thought Bilbo was underused though. He could have been focused on more. One of my favorite scenes was when Eldrond and Saruman showed up to help Gandalf and Galadriel. I was holding my breath during that part! :D

    ~Jamie

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    1. I know! There was actual plot in this one.

      I agree, that scene with Gandalf and Galadriel amazing! :D

      -James

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  6. Great review James, I'm glad liked it all so much! And you know, I agree with nearly everything you said here. All the things I didn't like you didn't mention, (I assume that means you were neutral on them?) and the things you loved I did too -- like EVERYTHING that had to do with either Bilbo, or Thorin was just amazing, and Bard too, I was so happy with all the screen time he got. I also thought the CGI was improved from the other two movies, and it was pretty impressive how they kept the action going for so long without letting it get boring -- even if their methods for keeping it going annoyed me half the time. :P

    This kinda continues from the reply I left on your comment on my review, but I really believe most Middle-Earth fans want to love these movies. They're not predisposed to dislike it, only to feel passionately about it. Being fans of the book, they have fantasized for years and years about how great The Hobbit would be as a movie, only to see this come along -- so perfect in some ways, but downright lazy and careless in others. We feel personally let down that the people who made these films didn't appear to love or respect the story as much as we did. Those flaws you say are minor, and might not put any significance on, but we do; we can't help it, and unfortunately, it degrades the film.

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    1. When I am referring to the "predisposed" to dislike the film, I am not talking viewers like you. Some, like Matthew, admit that they just will not like any of the Hobbit films. Just like some people will like comic book movies or anime. Some people refuse to attempt to see the positives in certain things. Hopefully that explains my comment there.

      I have my own long opinion about the Hobbit, but it seems that PJ made prequels to the LOTR rather than a strict adaptation of the books. I need to write a full post sometime to explain it though.

      -James

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    2. Okay, yes it does, thank you. I definitely know about that -- I have a brother who is like that with some things. (The Hobbit not being one though. ;) )

      I agree with that statement, and I'd be very interested to read a post on it!

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  7. I'll have to admit that the emotional punches in this film work a lot better than in the previous two installments. Great review James!

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  8. Spectacular review James but I wish mine could've been better with all the more comments and pageviews! Are you saying at the start that everyone hates The Hobbit trilogy because they find it inferior to the original LOTR series just as they find the Star Wars prequels in the same way.

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    1. Thank you! Well, like I replied to Sarah, some people just dislike the Hobbit film from the start and refuse to see it any differently.

      -James

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  9. As you know, I adore this movie. I don't have much to say here, other than that I think Alfrid provided some really necessary comic relief that kept the audience from becoming overwhelmed by all the heart-wrenching drama and thrilling heroics. I don't like Alfrid as a character, but I appreciate his presence. The dwarves are all being super-serious in this one, no chances for lighter moments with them, so we needed someone to provide them, and Alfrid fits the bill.

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    1. You have a point, but I wish Alfrid did not end with more screentime than Gandalf. The comedic scenes were fine, but I felt as though Alfrid received A LOT of screentime considering how unimportant his character was to the overall narrative. But I am glad to hear that you loved the film!

      -James

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  10. Awesome review! I actually got to see this one in theaters, and-a plus-I knew what was going on since I'd seen the previous film. First of all, I knew one thing about the Hobbit films: 'They're lighthearted and happy', according to my Dad. Well, me being the sensitive person that I am ended up sniffling through the movie. While the romance probably could have been removed, I think it worked, and it added to Kili's death (which Dad was upset over since Kili was his favorite Dwarf). While we enjoyed the movie, my Mom's main complaint was that it was a 'giant battle scene', which I suppose to those who haven't watched the previous movie that would be their main complaint. But beyond that, I can't figure out why they wouldn't like it! It had a fantastic-and perfect-ending! I'm actually about to post my review for the movie! :)
    -Tegan

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    1. Thank you! I definitely agree. The movie had some great emotional punch, even though it started as a "lighthearted adventure." Same here, I don't understand why people would not like the movie other than that.

      -James

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  11. Good Review James. I also thought the battle scences were fantastic. This series never captured my heart but it is still way better than most fantasy we get these days.

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  12. Good Review James. I also thought the battle scences were fantastic. This series never captured my heart but it is still way better than most fantasy we get these days.

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  13. The movie was quite boring for me. But the scenes were great.

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