THE HOBBIT : THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES : Monday 29th December 2014.

I sat in a packed theatre last night with a bunch of mates to see Peter Jackson's final instalment in 'The Hobbit' series and the culmination of 15 years of his life dedicated to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and bringing two great works of literary art to the big screen spread over six epic films. Much has been said already about this final chapter 'THE HOBBIT : THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES', and it seems that critical opinion has been divided so far from what I've read and heard. Come what may, as of 30th December the film has already amassed a global Box Office haul of US$573M against it's production budget of US$250M, and from this standpoint there are certainly plenty of bums on seats in the movie theatres generating a solid return in ticket sales already. In all likelihood this final chapter will top US$1B by the end of its cinematic run taking the trilogy well beyond US$3B - with DVD and TV rights still to go!

I enjoyed this film, as did my movie buddies, and like the other five instalments of the two books this is a must see on a big screen. Peter Jackson knows how to deliver spectacle on an epic scale, and six films in and using all the cutting edge technology at his finger tips he does not disappoint, and, does so with a deft touch having honed his skills admirably along the way during the last decade and a half.

Naturally this film continues immediately where 'The Desolation of Smaug' left off, and we see the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) circling over Laketown after the Dwarves have banished it from the Lonely Mountain. Needless to say Laketown is torched - there is death, widespread destruction and mayhem before Bard The Bowman (Luke Evans) takes down Smaug using the black arrow from atop a burning bell tower. Meanwhile the helpless Dwarves and Bilbo look on from inside the mountain as the town succumbs to fire and The Master of Laketown (Stephen Fry) comes to a sticky end trying to escape with his stash of gold. As this unfolds already Bilbo (Martin Freeman) notices a change in Thorin (Richard Armitage) as the 'dragon sickness' begins to take hold, and his obsession with his reclaimed gold, riches and wealth becomes all consuming and more important than life itself. Things will only get worse before they get better!

As word begins to spread across the lands that Smaug has been destroyed and the mountain reclaimed so the Elves and the Orks converge on Erebor to stake their claim and take what is believed to be theirs. As Thorin sinks deeper into his despair in searching for the lost Arkenstone and obsesses more about his gold and his new power as the Dwarf King, so he distances himself from the other Dwarves and eventually Bilbo too. The Orks summons a second army from Gundabad to converge on Erebor taking out Dale where the displaced people of Laketown are now taking refuge in the shadow of the Lonely Mountain.

At this point the army of Elves have arrived as has Gandalf (Ian McKellen) recently rescued by Galadreil (Cate Blanchett), Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and Saruman the White (Christopher Lee) from Dol Guldur. Sadly, this is all we see of Galadriel, Elrond and Saruman and I can't help feeling Cate, Hugo and Chris were short changed in this outing when perhaps their ongoing involvement could have been a little more meaty! Overcoming the Orks (temporarily) Bard attempts to convince Thorin to allow the folk of Laketown into Erebor for safe shelter from the advancing army, but Thorin is so wrapped up in his own  obsessive little world that he will have none of it and would rather bring on war than risk sharing a single gold coin with anyone else, despite the earlier commitments he has made!

And so it's on for young and old, man and beast as the Elves and the Men prepare to storm the Lonely Mountain. As they prepare to do so the Orc reinforcements arrive with Goblins and giant war hunger bats and other grizzly creatures to wipe out everything in their path. At which point Thorin's cousin Dain arrives (Billy Connolly - almost unrecognisable in his make up, except for his dead give-away voice which is  delight!) with his Dwarf Army bringing up the rear. During this conflagration of converging opposing forces Thorin hallucinates in a nightmare of voices, memories and visions eventually snapping out of his obsessive stupor and sees the error of his ways and what it has almost cost him. He musters his fellow Dwarves and Bilbo and together they all jump headlong into the fight with Dwarves, Elves and Men all doing pitched battle with the marauding Orcs and their Goblin followers with a bunch of giant swooping eagles who come out of nowhere to help save the day for our tiny friends, bringing said battle of five armies to a somewhat abrupt halt!

It's bloody and it's messy but on screen it is a spectacle to behold as the might of the battling armies spread forth leaving death and destruction on all sides. The magnitude of this is well conceived and well delivered in all its CGI glory. Meanwhile we have other smaller hand to hand fights as Thorin seeks to destroy Orc leader Azog (Manu Bennett) at nearby Ravenhill aided by Dwalin (Graham McTavish), Kili (Aidan Turner) and Fili (Dean O'Gorman) where ultimately is doesn't end well for any of them. As this is going on so Legolas (Orlando Bloom) is fighting it out with Azog's right hand Orc, Bolg (John Tui), and you can guess which one of these two survives to fight another day!

In the end the Orcs are vanquished and retreat, their leader is slain, but there are casualties on all sides - Dwarves, Elves and Men, but Erebor is saved and with it the riches contained therein. Bilbo returns to The Shire accompanied by Gandalf and we learn that 13 months have passed by since he set out on his epic journey. Gandalf leaves Bilbo saying that he will maintain a watchful eye on the little Hobbit, and in the closing scene we see the older Bilbo (Ian Holm) sixty years hence reflecting on his previous journey and toying with the gold ring still in his possession when Gandalf knocks on his door, and he springs up to greet his old friend.

Jackson has been criticised for spreading a relatively short concise story (unlike the 'LOTR' tome) into a three instalment film event spanning over seven hours of run time, but in the final analysis I think he can be forgiven for his enthusiasm, his commitment and his energy in delivering another filmic event on a grand scale, and, for dedicating such a large proportion of his life to this labour of love. So far, US$2.55B in combined sales for this series, and counting, says something . . . and the movie going public are voting with their wallets - good on 'em! This is a fitting end to the series, sets up the first film in the 'LOTR' trilogy with a few well placed references, and whilst at times the CGI is just a little off kilter and some of the dialogue a little questionable, I am happy to recommend this film to you.

   

-Steve, at Odeon Online-