The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) - Film Review
Wasted potential: that is the thought that springs to mind when I look back upon The Battle of the Five Armies, the final chapter in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy. Among the most disappointing aspects of this film is that it doesn’t seem to know whether it’s going up or down. What initially started as a rather heartwarming rite-of-passage about a sheltered hobbit finally finding his courage, essentially turns into something quite different by the end of the franchise.
In a sense, the whole film can be summed up as one over-bloated action sequence, in which the audience is showered with what appears to be Hollywood’s main source of income these days: fan service for the sake of nostalgia. The elf-and-mortal romance exhibited by Kili and Tauriel is, of course, little more than a desperate re-enactment of Aragorn and Arwen’s relationship that we saw in The Lord of the Rings. Similarly, the minutes and minutes of screentime dedicated to Legolas don’t seem to serve any other purpose than to remind us that this is indeed the same gravity-defying badass that will accompany Frodo on his quest years later. All in all, it seems that the filmmakers haven’t let slip a single opportunity to shove in a Lord of the Rings reference wherever they could fit one, no matter how far-fetched. Perhaps the most subtle-but-not-so-subtle example of this can be found in a scene towards the end of the film, in which Legolas’s father Thranduil urges him to seek out a young "ranger" whose "name" he must discover for himself. This constant attempt to imitate on the success of its predecessor leaves a lot to be desired because it clearly goes to show the filmmakers’ own lack of faith in their creation. After all, if they truly believed their production was worthy, why should they have felt the need to rely on past triumphs?
That’s not to say that The Battle of the Five Armies is not without its glimmers. As in the previous two films, Martin Freeman practically shines in his role as Bilbo Baggins. In fact, you can expect some rather excellent performances from all across the cast, including Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Richard Armitage as the dwarf-king Thorin, Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman, and Lee Pace as Thranduil. These small glimmers of quality cinema are unfortunately not quite enough to keep The Battle of the Five Armies afloat seeing as the film's definite shortcomings way overpower them.
Overall, I would call The Battle of the Five Armies a painfully mediocre action film, which, although strayed with some heartfelt performances here and there, unfortunately, does not deliver to the standard set by its predecessor in The Lord of the Rings.
Overall rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars