Although this yearly tradition of catching the Peter Jackson helmed installment will sadly be the last one, it is with a bitter sweet feeling that we enter the movie house, take our seats and sip on our Biggie from Wendy's as we look up at the screen to catch a piece of J. R. R. Tolkien's heritage to the world.
Why all the drama? Well - if you guys didn't know yet- Paul and I are big LOTR/The Hobbit/Tolkien/Peter Jackson fans. As boyfriend and girlfriend we would watch the LOTR Trilogy on DVD (extended DVD) and we would spend hours watching the behind-the-scenes footages and documentary on anything and everything in the creation of the films. We know people like Fran Walsh, Allan Lee and we could point out Peter Jackson's cameos in the films.
So as big fans of the franchise here is our review on The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: trust me, as a writer, with some script writing experience back in High Scool it really is hard to think about how you will adopt a well known and well loved story, much more cut it into three parts. How do you start and end each installment? Especially taking into consideration that there is a year in between each parts? It is with this thought in mind that I have to say that I am still conflicted with how The Battle Of The Five Armies started- right where The Desolation left off, Smaug flying into Lake Town to unleash his wrath. That was sort of a dissapointment for me since Smaug was such a big deal in the second movie, that his quick demise in the third really was a bit of a let down. I was even worried that he would have no lines and I wouldn't be able to hear Benedict Cumberbatch in the film :(
Thankfully the writers gave him a couple of amazing bad ass lines so that's good. I think that adding that bit where Bard uses his son as a "kalso" to fire the black arrow was a bit of a nail biter. That was a good bit to add, it had a sort of Abraham-Isaac feel into it that just gave me the willies.
Needless to say that Smaug I was dissapointment that Smaug's death was rushed. I kinda liked him.
Oh and I should mention that I was also not to happy with the movie tag like being: "The Battle Of The Five Armies" in my opinion, sticking to the original "There And Back Again" would have been a better choice and would it would have been a great nod to the original story.
So going back to the film-
There was a bit of comic relief provided by Alfred, the former right hand man / Deputy of the Mayor. This was a good addition, especially considering how grim the content of the last movie would be. The audience laughed at his subtle and cowardly antics and every laugh was a good trade off to the rest of the emotions that you would surely feel when you see the movie. There are a bit of surprise deaths in the movie but since I've read the book I was already expecting them even if I was willing for them not to happen-don't worry no spoilers here. :)
Peter Jackson and his team took a lot of liberties with changing up the story which I think is an okay deal, I'm not a purist who would complain at every non-book change. I believe that Jackson et al. have made a great adaptation of the books to the films. So much so that even non-readers would be able to enjoy it.
So some book-movie changes coupled with my thoughts: For one, Legolas isn't even in the book. Yes fan girls and boys the hunky elf, played by an older Orlando Bloom does not make any appearance in any shape or form in the book, his appearance in the movies was more so for the fans really, so at least they have someone they know or who looks familiar that they can watch on screen and so that the fan girls and boys can cheer and swoon on him too :p
Tauriel (the she-elf), also not in the book. Tolkien is not known for his leading female characters and of course in this day and age a bad ass chick is always a plus on a movie ensemble cast.
Not really sure what to make of the whole Tauriel-Filly love team though, yeah for Aragorn and Arwen it works but for these two...not so sure. It was like Jackson et al. just throwing a random love team in the bunch plus an awkward love triangle with Legolas too. But I guess it was still effective since two people I know posted Tauriel's heart breaking lines in the film on Facebook after seeing the movie. Not putting the lines here though-to avoid spoilers :)
Watching the movie, I remembered all those fairy tales that I read as a child, of a King consumed by greed, willing to forsake and sacrifice everything for the sake of gold and treasure. Although no childhood fairy tale can bring to the screen bad as* fight scenes that only Peter Jackson can-okay I'll have to admit that some of the fight scenes were too far fetched and were literally defying the laws of physics but still bad as* enough for you to gush and cheer. ^_^
The movie like other Hobbit/LOTR movies was over 3 hours long but you really won't feel the length of the movie since it was one bad as* fight scene after the next! there was absolutely no dull moment. Definitely an epic end to the trilogy!
And in classic Jackson style he joins The Hobbit trilogy with The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy by littering the movie with Easter Eggs and teasers, making you just want to watch The Fellowship of The Ring right after The Battle of the Five Armies.
Here are some actors and roles I loved - aside from Bilbo and Smaug ^_^
Luke Evans (Dracula Untold) really did a good job playing Bard- he really had that traditional hero role pinned down and it is also an added plus that he's a loving dad of three children ^_~
Good representation on the race of Men of which few are hard to come by these days- in books or in real life!
Lee Pace (Pushing Dasies, Guardians Of The Galaxy) is a favorite of my sister and who wouldn't love this guy?! He played Ronan The Acuser in Guardians Of The Galaxy and now he's the beautiful but annoying Tharanduil, Movie Executives should give Lee Pace more cool roles - you won't regret it!
The fight scenes alone make the movie worth to watch and unlike The Transformers-Bay tandem, Peter Jackson and team present the fight scenes in the different way from the previous movies, for The Battle Of The Five Armies we see a more strategic fight, similar to military strategies in wars and that one-on-one showdown between Thorin and Azog will freeze your blood over.
I know that this movie review is already late in posting, blame the holiday rush, work and just being physically too tired to write after work (the mind is willing but the body is too weak kind of thing) you guys have to watch the movie in cinemas, quickly before the MMFF conquers all theaters :p You'll be lucky enough if Warner Bros. will still be screening it next year. It is the last movie and just thinking about that makes me so sad- sigh- got to get those DVDs so we can visit Middle Earth any time! ^_^
S
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