by Joseph Rossi
You want a big finale? You got it.
The last of the Hobbit Trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies, arrives in theatres this week and like the last chapter in Peter Jackson’s original The Lord of the Rings films, The Return of the King, it’s the best one. A thrilling monster of a movie that barrels along like a freight train on steroids. Say what you will about Jackson’s new trilogy. Was the first one long winded? Yes. Was a trilogy unnecessary? Yes. Is it time to leave Tolkien alone? Yes. But hell if I don’t say that New Zealand based Peter Jackson didn’t pull out all the stops this time around. And I thought The Desolation of Smaug was grand. You have seen nothing yet.
The film starts off with Smaug, the gold loving dragon, setting Laketown on fire. There are no recaps. You’ll need to catch up by watching the last film. Bard (Luke Evans) quickly dispatches the beast leaving the rest of the films 2 ½ hour running time devoted to the battle of the five armies.
The dwarf Thorin ( Richard Armitage), the rightful king under the Mountain, has now developed a sickness. All the gold in his home of Erobor, has turned him into a money loving hermit, unwilling to share the wealth to those he promised he’d help. Realizing they have been betrayed, Bard and a group from Laketown and the Mirkwood Elves march on the greedy king. But as all this is happening, the evil warlord Sauron has amassed an army of orcs and lets them loose on them as well in order to reclaim the mountain as a strategic counter move to begin his rule of Middle Earth. Poor Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is stuck between a sick king and thousands who wish to supplant him.
Erobor, Throin, Orcs, Elves, Dragons…a bit much, right? For non fans, well, this isn’t for you. For the rabid enthusiasts, they will eat this up. I have seen big battles and this one takes the cake. I will never know how Jackson managed to pull off the complexity that this entails but I give him all the credit in the world. I will also give him credit for interweaving bits of emotion throughout the chaos. There are a few heart-tugging moments here that I will not spoil but they did give me a lump in my throat.
The technicians have outdone themselves here. The film looks amazing. The cast is superb. Martin Freeman has come into his own as Bilbo. Armitage is an effective, Shakespearean king. Ian McKellan is just heaven as Gandalf. Mckellan was for me, the lynchpin of the series. His presence was like comfort food for myself. He shows up and all is well. Knowing that this will be the last time he will wear that hat depresses me. Thank God for Blue Ray.
Peter Jackson is one of my favorite filmmakers working right now. Yes, he teeters on the brink – well, over the brink – of excess most of the time but he does it with such a jovial spirit, such a passion, that I believe should not be faulted. He makes movies that people want to see. My son loves these films. People can nitpick all they want but when his target demographic actually asks me to buy him the original Tolkien novel because of his love for the film, I say thank you Mr. Jackson.
