The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

[Crusader]

Well this was pretty bad 

 

First off I'm a huuuuge fan of LOTR but this is basically SW prequels all over again except this one is easily the worst 

 

one point for brilliant yet underused MArtin Freeman ( in a movie named after his character ) 

 

one point for the occasional flashes of brilliance in form of some nice imagery 

 

one point for PJ taking in the criticism for ROTK's ending and actually getting it quite short and right 

 

that's it otherwise its just there being tedious not quite well directed and insulting both the director's far better work and Tolkien's book 

 

4/10 

[Webslinger]

With The Battle of the Five Armies, we can finally assess Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy as a final product. And the result, as expected after the first two installments, is that it's a fun experience that unfortunately still can't hold a candle to its predecessors. This finale is emblematic of the entire trilogy: it has moments that are stirring and thoroughly entertaining, and moments in which it's all too clear that the expansion of a relatively straightforward children's book is a bit too wieldy for its own good. By focusing mostly on the titular battle and cutting out much of the extraneous exposition that held the previous installments down, Jackson has fashioned a very entertaining film that moves through most of its 144 minutes very quickly; in fact, the pacing is so swift that it's hard to believe that the film isn't at least an hour shorter than the first one in the trilogy. Unlike the prolonged action sequences in, say, Michael Bay's Transformers sequels, there's also enough breathing room within the enormous battle that it doesn't feel especially over-extended despite its length. If there's any area where the film missteps, it's in its emotional execution; try as Jackson may, these characters and their relationships with one another just don't have the same poignancy as the ones in The Lord of the Rings, so some of the bigger deaths don't hit as hard as he likely intends. At the end of the day, I still think that we could have gotten one great Hobbit movie, but the final result of this trilogy is three good movies; that's a more-than-acceptable output, even if they're standing in such an enormous cinematic shadow.

 

B+

[John Marston]

I am a huge fan of the Middle Earth films and loved AUJ and DOS. I have to admit though BOTFOA was the weakest of the three. Why? Because it just kind of... ends. After all is said and done, I had a lot of lingering questions about what will happen to all that dwarf treasure. Will the residents of Lake Town get their share? Will the Elves get their precious trinkets? Will the Dwarves keep it? What exactly happens to Bard, Tauriel and Thranduil? For the original LOTR movies to be criticized about having way too many endings, this one felt like it didn't have enough. Of all the films, this is the one I'm most eagerly awaiting an extended edition for because it needs those gaps filled in. Also way too much use of the comic relief character Alfred, and some of Legolas stunts did get a bit over the top.

 

 

Still this is not a bad movie at all and I still love the world that Jackson has portrayed on screen. I am sure the EE will go a long distance in making this feel more complete and satisfactory. In the end if this is truly the last Middle Earth movie I will be very sad to never revisit this world again. 

[John Marston]

This was really quite mediocre and definitely needs an Extended Edition.

 

Hollywood has unfailingly found a way to end most trilogies/franchises on a horrible note. Besides ROTK and Toy Story 3, mostly every other franchise I have followed has ended up botched. It's incredible. 

 

I even liked both AUJ and DOS even if the former actually does drag on second viewing, so how could they go wrong?

 

Firstly Smaug was such an afterthought the instant the movie starts. Even though I never read the book, you knew there wouldn't be two hours of dragon, so basically you're killing a dragon in the first 15 minutes of your movie...and the CGI was pretty terrible. The stakes were ridiculously low. Smaug, if he so wanted, could have burnt every single citizen to a crisp hours ago. It's light when he leaves the mountain in DOS, no? The way that the Bard eventually kills him just fails on so many levels. The entire sequence is pointless and feels like it's going through the motions.

 

Then you have the incessantly annoying unfunny Alfred. PJ must have liked his BJs because there's no reason for a character no one cares about to have so much screentime and waste every second of it. Yeah, we get he's a coward and a liar and that no one else seems to notice. He didn't even get killed for all his troubles. Massive oversight by PJ. Jar Jar Binksian.

 

The handling of Thorin's descent into madness is also pretty pathetic. It is unclear when it is happening, when it isn't, what is driving it and in the end it comes off as a hammy, cheesy performance with the way his voice goes deeper and the random moments he spouts off. A total waste.

 

Lastly, for a movie about one giant battle, it even fails to tie up any strings whatsoever. The editing is horrible. I get that they want to "focus" on Freeman and Thorin but they ignore the rest of the battle which is surely going on. In fact Bilbo spends a hell of a long time knocked out as well without anyone bothering about him. There are way too many flaws to pick on. The movie gives the impression that only 10 dwarves survived, zero Elves and all the Orcs died- not to mention all the fishermen survive. It's a stupid outcome. The least experienced warriors with the worst weapons and worst tactical abilities outlast all the actual trained military...yeah, good one there. 

 

Then the need to stuff in LOTR references when it doesn't take place for another 60 years is stupid. So, the threat that develops into such a huge brouhaha with Gandalf at Dol Goldur and the links with Azog and the other Orc, all within 10 months, is put off for another 60 years? What a joke. Dare I mention that it takes an instant for the dwarves and the elves and the Orcs to get to the Misty Mountain? It seems like all of them live in the same city. 

 

Peter Jackson should have stuck with two movies. This is unnecessary as it comes and resolves nothing. An insult to Middle Earth, to LOTR, to the book and the fans. A waste of an adaptation. At least the franchise never took off and was always a huge percentage off from the originals because it never delivers and is a pure cash grab. WB and PJ roll in the cash over nearly $3B but hopefully audiences are starting to wisen up on those movies and franchises that split for no reason.

 

 

just because you didn't like it doesn't make it a cash grab. 

[Goffe]

I always said that the Hobbit movies were way better than the prequels, but if I had to choose which one was worse, this or AOTC (the worst prequel), I would probably choose AOTC.

[MrFanaticGuy34]

A pretty good finale to the Hobbit Trilogy. Really felt for the characters of Bilbo & Thorin.

 

A+.

 

And it's another film that didn't get to $1B, sadly.

[John Marston]

just watched the extended cut in theaters. The main improvement is that the it did a good job giving more character to the dwarves I felt and giving them better closure including the added funeral scene. The editing on the Dol Guldur scene is so much better there is no comparison. There is only 2-3 minutes of new footage, but it flows much better and old Bolg design is featured much more. There's also more talk about the three rings. Saruman is featured more, but only in fight form. The issues with sloppy editing are gone and we see Radaghast give Gandalf his new staff as well. However, fans might be disappointed that Bard, Thranduil, and Tauriel are not given any new additional scenes and their characters are still not given proper closure. 

 I guess they are saving that for the Super Special Edition DVDs that will have all the unreleased footage not just from The Hobbit but the numerous scenes from Lord of the Rings not yet released yet.

 

 

still this version is definitely the superior cut and should have been released in the first place. 

Edited October 14, 2015 by John Marston