SILVER TONGUED SILVER SCREEN: THE HOBBIT~THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES

Once again we come to the end of another epic trilogy in cinema. Eleven years ago the Lord of the Rings trilogy came to an epic conclusion with the third and final film Return of the King. Not only did that film live up to expectations but it received a resounding applause from the Academy Awards earning eleven Oscars, and rightly so. I've never met a person who disliked the film. In the case of the most recent entry into what is now being referred to as the Middle Earth Saga I haven't met a person who actually liked it. THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES has finally been released to mixed reviews and unsure feelings.

SPOILER ALERT!
Smaug descends upon Lake Town in a firestorm of hell and fury. The populace flees, some escaping with naught but their skin, others turning to cinders and ash. Bard and his son Bain rise to save the day and slay the last of fire drakes. After a frightening speech from the reptile the arrow flies and Smaug, the great and terrible, dies.

Thorin stays locked in his mountain succumbing to Dragon's Madness. He walls himself inside Erebor and goes mad with greed. Meanwhile the refugees from Lake Town gather at the ruins of the city of Dale just outside the Lonely Mountain. The Woodland Elves led by King Thranduil march on the city. Both Bard and Thranduil want a portion of the dwarves treasure, but for different reasons. They knock on the mountain door and peaceably ask for assistance from Thorin. Thorin says no.

Meanwhile Elrond, Galadriel, and Saruman lay siege to the Necromancer's stronghold in an attempt to rescue Gandolf. They battle the Nine Nazgul and ultimately confront Sauron. Galadriel unleashed her full power and banishes Sauron to the north. Radagast rides in and takes Gandolf away to heal. But the gray wizard cannot rest for an army of orcs marches on Erebor. He leaves to round up an army of creatures to aid the dwarves.

The elves prepare to attack Erebor, the meager army of the refugees of Lake Town by their side. An army of dwarves marches down from the hill to defend Erebor. Half the army of the orcs arrive and all hell breaks loose. Thorin comes to his senses and joins the fray turning the tide.  It appears as if the orcs are defeated until Azog unleashes the other half of his army. Blood is shed. Main characters die. Gandolf finally swoops in on the back of an eagle leading an army of woodland creatures into battle. Good triumphs over evil and Bilbo returns to the shire.

If you know the book then you know once Smaug descends toward Lake Town there isn't much story left. Indeed, all that remains is the death of Smaug and the final battle for Erebor. That's it. No new plot is introduced. In fact there is very little plot at all except tying up all the other plots woven into the story up to this point. This truly is a film of endings that leads to the Lord of the Rings epic. So you shouldn't expect anything more than a big fight scene.

If you don't know the book then you might be a bit disgruntled with the film as it feels incomplete as a film. Compare it to watching a film on Television in which you're down to the end of the film and the TV execs slip one last commercial break in there right before the story wraps up. You come back from the commercial break and what you get is the big battle and no story whatsoever. You're left feeling a little ripped off because all the wind was taken out of your sails right before the finish.

If you haven't seen any Middle Earth films prior to this then you'll probably think the film sucks because it doesn't offer anything really but action scenes. Not to mention the disappointingly short ten minute sequence at the beginning where Smaug appears and Smaug dies. Really? Only ten minutes? Smaug's desolation only lasts ten minutes?! The first ten minutes of this film should have been the last ten minutes of the Desolation of Smaug... you know, the film where Smaug should be desolating but never in fact desolates. That was my biggest disappointment.

Other qualms I had with the film were minor. I thought the subplot with Alfrid, the master of Lake Town's assistant, was completely unnecessary and too goofy for the tone of the film. Tauriel's build up throughout the last film amounted to nothing in this movie. She wasn't badass enough and simply gets her ass handed to her. And lastly, once the four dwarves split off from the main battle to go kill Azog we never really return to the main battle. Even when Gandolf arrives sporting a freaking Werebear by his side (Beorn) we only go back to it for a minute. We don't even see it end! This is a major point in the story and it is resolved off screen. I really really wanted to see Beorn in full bear berserker fury mauling through orcs... but no.

Surprisingly though I had no problem with the lack of a plot throughout the film. In fact I enjoyed the film. My favorite part was when Elrond and Saruman come to Gandolf's rescue. The deaths of characters shocked me and I liked how mean and merciless the orcs were. The wereworms were cool too. All in all I like the film but it should have been released differently instead of the way it was. As it is the presentation falls a little flat and in no way does this film stand on its own. It is entirely dependent on the previous film and should be considered the final act of the second film (which it should have been released simultaneously with last year, just my opinion). But seriously, if you haven't seen the others or if you don't realize its a trilogy you probably should do your homework a little better.

Overall Ranking: 6 out of 10

I realize this review is sounding rather negative but I really did enjoy it. A 6 out of 10 on my scale is a good film. I'm actually looking forward to seeing the extended cut in hopes that Peter Jackson gives me the extra little bits that I wanted out of this film. Peter Jackson did what he could with this trilogy despite not having enough material for a trilogy. He fleshed out and extended everything he could to milk this story three times over. He did a good job too. But the fact remains that this book really should have only been one or two films at most.