In a way,
writing a review of The Hobbit: The
Battle of the Five Armies, the final installment in Peter Jackson’s epic,
maddening trilogy, feels like a rather pointless undertaking. If you didn’t care for
either of the previous two movies, chances are you won’t find this one any more
enjoyable, and it’s hard to imagine the film appealing to anyone except the
most fervent devotees of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth – or, more accurately,
Middle Earth as recreated by Jackson and co. Indeed, even as a diehard fan of
the franchise, I entered my screening of Battle
with more than a little trepidation. Given that this was the last time Middle
Earth will appear on the big screen (as of now, at least), I wanted a satisfying,
emotionally cathartic conclusion, but considering that neither An Unexpected Journey nor The Desolation of Smaug were exactly
great, my expectations for this one were low. Moreover, as much as I try not to
let other people’s opinions affect my own (or seep into my reviews), I’d
already heard more of the decidedly negative critical response to the film than
I would’ve liked, and it stuck in the back of my mind even when the movie
began. I say all this because I can’t pretend I was coming from a place of cool
objectivity when watching it and to emphasize how genuinely surprised I was at
how much I liked The Battle of the Five
Armies.
To be clear, Battle suffers from a lot of the same
flaws as its predecessors. It thankfully skips the usual, seemingly obligatory
prologue and jumps right into the action, picking up where the previous movie
left off, with the dragon Smaug preparing to attack Laketown. However, this
also results in an opening that feels more like a climax and likely should’ve
been relegated to the second film. Despite having the shortest running time of
the three, Battle still manages to
somehow feel both too thin and overstuffed, thanks to a host of subplots, many
of which are underdeveloped or wholly unnecessary. Scenes centered on the human
characters especially drag, a notable change from The Desolation of Smaug, where Laketown served as one of the more
interesting locations, if only for the passing exploration of politics. After
essentially completing his arc within the first twenty minutes or so, Luke
Evans’s Bard becomes extraneous, turning into more of a plot device than an
actual character. It doesn’t help that his most prominent traits as established
by Desolation – his resourcefulness,
stemming from his profession as a fisherman and smuggler, and his status as a
champion of the common people – no longer apply in this movie, since he gets
elevated into a position of power after killing Smaug.
More egregiously, Battle bizarrely decides to expand the
role of Alfrid, the sniveling, cowardly former servant of the Master played by
Ryan Gage. Not only could this time have been better used to flesh out the
Bard, Evangeline Lilly’s Tauriel or some of the dwarves, most of whom still
seem interchangeable, but Alfrid also is just flat-out obnoxious. He’s clearly
meant to serve as comic relief, which I’ve always considered among The Hobbit’s weaker points, clashing too
sharply with its overall foreboding tone. The toilet humor of the first movie
and more absurd goofiness of the second, however, are infinitely preferable to the
ill-advised, surprisingly offensive bit that concludes Alfrid’s storyline. I
won’t go into any more detail, but honestly, you’re better than that, Peter
Jackson.
As bloated and scatterbrained as
the movie is, though, it contains enough admirable elements and scenes that you
can almost create a genuinely great version of this story by just taking bits
and pieces and putting them together. Boosted by pitch-perfect performances
from Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage, Battle
shines whenever the spotlight focuses on Bilbo’s and Thorin’s relationship.
Freeman’s finely tuned mix of disgruntled awkwardness and naïve, humble decency
has always been a highlight of the trilogy, making the hobbit’s transformation
from prudish shut-in to unlikely hero both believable and compelling. However,
this is the first film that has really given Armitage a chance to stand out,
and he takes full advantage of it. With his brow almost constantly furrowed in
a majestic glower, the British actor drives home the essentially tragic nature
of his character, bringing out Thorin’s arrogance and darkness without letting
it completely overshadow the gravitas that makes him such a captivating leader.
Thanks to Armitage’s performance, you don’t doubt Gandalf when he tells Bilbo
to fear Thorin, but you can also understand why the other dwarves are so loyal
to him, willing to follow him even to their deaths.
Ultimately, Battle benefits more than anything else from being forced to have a
legitimate ending. As the conclusion to roughly eight hours of plotting, it
finally provides the stakes that prior films had only vaguely hinted at, and by
treating The Hobbit more like a
prologue to The Lord of the Rings
than an individual, self-contained story, Jackson and co. give some weight to
what is basically an elaborate treasure hunt. The titular, CGI-heavy battle may
not rival the more practical effects-driven Helms Deep sequence in The Two Towers, which remains the Citizen Kane of fantasy action set
pieces, but it still has an appropriate sense of scope, utilizes enough flashy
choreography and creature designs to keep things interesting, and allows the
filmmakers to revel in the mythology they’ve spent years carefully crafting.
For all the flat characters and silly, half-baked subplots, The Hobbit has always retained one of
the key strengths of its predecessor: the world-building. It’s the small
details in the costume and set designs demarcating different cultures, the
deeply embedded presence and influence of history that make Middle Earth feel immersive
in a way that few other fictional universes have. The Battle of the Five Armies reminded me how much I love this world,
which I realized as the sweet, melancholy ballad “The Last Goodbye”
(appropriately sung by ex-hobbit Billy Boyd) played over the closing credits was
all I really wanted in the first place. Though it was far from perfect, I think
I’ll look back on this journey there and back again with affection; in fact, I
already kind of miss it.
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