The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies – Conclusion to an Epic Tale

I don’t know about you, but one of the things I was most looking forward to this past Christmas was the conclusion to The Hobbit movie series. Unlike the first two movies, I was sure that director Peter Jackson was leaving enough material for the final movie plot. Below is my review of the movie, let me know if you agree.

SPOILER ALERT: If you have not read the book and/or are not familiar with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings tie-in, read with caution.

The Plot of the Movie

The movie starts out with an action scene. Bilbo and the Dwarves have just successfully ousted the dragon, Smaug, from the Dwarf mountain kingdom. Unfortunately, Smaug has now set his eyes on the nearby city of Laketown. With the town in flames, Laketown’s only hope for survival is Bard the Bowman. With the help of his boy, he’s able to fashion an arrow and bow strong enough to take down the dragon.

Laketown is not just a pile of ashes, but the people of the town have survived. They head up to the mountain to ask Thorin for their promised treasure so that they can buy the materials necessary to rebuild their home.

With the dragon out of the way, the Laketown residents are not the only ones making their way to the Lonely Mountain. Orcs, who have been pursuing Bilbo since he picked up the Ring of Power in the Goblin tunnels, are right on their tale. Elves from the nearby woods are also coming to claim their share of the mountain’s gold. Dwarves have gathered to join the fight from far off. And a 2^nd army of Orcs are on their way from the north to join their brothers in battle.

Battling with Dragon Sickness, Thorin is happy to let the armies battle it out just outside the kingdom’s walls as he employs his own company to search out the Heartstone – even if that means the defeat of his own kin.

Bilbo saves the day by both convincing Thorin to get over his greed and showing faith the Elves by returning the Heartstone. Together the Men, Elves and Dwarves take on the two flanks of Orcs to battle out who will ultimately win the kingdom that lives beneath The Lonely Mountain.

What I loved about this movie

One thing that me and my boyfriend appreciated about this movie is that it is non-stop action from beginning to end. We begin by battling it out with Smaug in Laketown and end with the epic 5-army battle at the front door of The Lonely Mountain.

Another thing I appreciated with the tie-in to The Lord of the Rings. Obviously Tolkein wrote The Hobbit before he had even conceptualized The Lord of the Rings. The advantage of doing The Hobbit Movies after The Lord of the Rings movies is that Jackson has more flexibility to tie in these movies to the next series of movies in which Frodo takes the spotlight.

The introduction of Sauron was excellently done. Sauron is just a shadow in this movie because really it’s a story of Bilbo and his relationship with the Dwarves – at least the heart. The introduction of Sauron was pivotal to the new theme of the movies, but was subtly done in a way that didn’t take away from the actual storyline.

The Big Misses for this movie

All the hype leading up to the battle with Smaug and Bard makes the quick destruction of Smaug sort of anti-climactic. Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, Smaug is dead. I wish they could have sort of gone back a little to when Smaug left the mountain and worked its way back up to the destruction of Smaug by Bard and his son.

Where were the giants? I’m pretty sure in the original story the 5 armies were Men, Dwarves, Elves, Orcs and Giants. Instead we’re given a second Orc army or was the Eagles considered an army?… It’s all very confusing.

The break-up moment left a little to be desired. At one point the war is won, the Dwarves, Men and Elves have come to an agreement and it’s time for the company to break up and head their own way. While Bilbo had an awesome farewell with the Dwarves, it was Legolas’ farewell that confused me. He says he can’t go back to the Elvish kingdom and so he wants to find a new quest. Gandolf sends him to seek out the Ranger. But if we remember from The Fellowship of the Ring, the Ranger takes Frodo to Legolas who has been staying in Rivendell.

Five Star Review

Overall, I give The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies 5 stars. The action was excellent. The relationships were really held from movie to movie and continue to develop in this movie as well. There’s great tie-in for The Lord of the Rings minus a little smudging of facts here and there. I definitely recommend it for anyone who is a Middle Earth fan or for those who are looking for a conclusion to the hobbit’s tale as it’s definitely present in this movie.

Share your opinion:  What did you think of the movie?