Film Review | The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
Peter Jackson's 'Lord Of The Rings' swansong is the worst of the six, devoid of even one 'wow' moment
Finally, as the five armies face each other at the foot of the Lonely Mountain, Peter Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel into the trilogy of The Hobbit movies comes to an end. It has been 13 years since the first Lord Of The Rings movie. And with The Battle Of The Five Armies, perhaps the worst of the six films in the set, Jackson has hopefully satisfied his obsession with the books.
The Battle Of The Five Armies, a 3D epic fantasy adventure, begins as abruptly as the previous film (The Desolation Of Smaug, 2013) ended, with the dragon (voice of Benedict Cumberbatch) flying over Laketown and breathing wrathful fire over the townsfolk. There is no preamble, no recap, no easing the audience back into the story. Part III assumes that the viewer has seen the preceding episodes and remembers the events seen a year ago.
With Smaug the dragon finally slain, the armies (men, elves, dwarves, orcs and eagles) converge on Lonely Mountain. Thorin faces the ultimate test of his leadership. The transformation of the hero of the previous episode into the weak and conflicted king should have been one of the highlights of this film, but it’s so poorly rendered that one understands his affliction very late.
After the amazing experience of The Lord Of The Rings, expectations from The Hobbit were sky-high. An Unexpected Journey, the first in The Hobbit trilogy, was mesmerizing. Desolation Of Smaug followed and left audiences assuming that the third and final part would tie up all the loose ends and would be Jackson’s impressive, awe-inspiring push to the finale. It is not.
Emotionally vacant (even the background music by Howard Shore is weaker than the powerful score which underlined the emotions in The Lord Of The Rings), glossing over a significant arc for its characters, what remains is a tableau for special effects and computer graphics achievements. Yet it is devoid of a “wow" moment, which we have seen in previous parts such as Legolas slaying the mammoth, Aragorn arriving with the ghost army, and almost every battle in The Lord Of The Rings series. The Battle Of The Five Armies offers just one—the fight on the frozen lake at the end.
The contrived dialogue, and an irksome love story between a dwarf and an elf, are hard to digest. Much of this ennui comes, no doubt, from the unnatural elongation of the source material into three films, when two would probably have sufficed. It’s a pity that a film-maker’s passion and dedication to these books should have such a prosaic send-off.
Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies released in theatres on Friday.
The three other releases of the week
Lingaa (Tamil)
Badlapur Boys
Main Aur Mr Riight
Lingaa (Tamil) released in theatres across south India and select theatres in other cities on Friday. Badlapur Boys and Main Aur Mr Riight released in theatres on Friday
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