Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Peter Jackson's passion project, encompassing six films over the course of 13 years, comes to a satisfying end with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Any niggling cavils cannot distract from his towering achievement in bringing to vivid life J.R.R. Tolkien's epic saga.

Having failed to vanquish the fearsome dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) at the end of the previous installment The Desolation of Smaug, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and the rest of the Dwarves can do nothing but watch helplessly as the magnificent firebreather proceeds to lay waste the citizens of Lake-town, a punishment for assisting the intruders of Lonely Mountain. It's a thrilling opening, made even more so in IMAX 3D, and one feels a sharp pang of regret when Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) fells the mighty beast.

Things quiet for a spell as the citizens resettle in the Dale and prepare to claim their part of the mountain. They're not the only ones looking for recompense, promised or otherwise: Thranduil (Lee Pace) and his woodland elves want their tribe's necklace of white gems; Azog and his Orc army look to secure the mountain for strategic purposes; the Iron Hills contingent led by Dain Ironfoot (Billy Connolly) advance to help their brethren. Though Bard attempts to reason with Thorin, war is inevitable as Thorin has fallen prey to the siren call of power, refusing to honour his deal with Bard and firmly focused on finding the Arkenstone (held by master burglar Bilbo) at all costs.

Let us pause to praise Armitage, who takes the acting laurels in this final installment. A popular television actor in the UK (MI-5, Robin Hood, North and South), and the quite the goodlooking fellow beneath the dwarf makeup, Armitage paints a fine portrait of a man under his own private siege. His interlude with paranoia has an almost Shakespearean air about it; his scenes with Freeman's Bilbo lend the film its true emotional weight.

Of course, no one's here to see the acting but the battle to end all battles. Jackson and his technical team do not disappoint. The setpiece is a battle royale for the ages, a nearly hourlong orgy of carnage. Thranduil astride his elk, elves leaping over the backs of the dwarves to meet the charging orcs, the mammoth orcs with catapults attached to their backs - all make for striking images amidst the mayhem. Thorin's one-on-one with Azog, set on a frozen waterfall, may arguably be one of the best sequences in all six films.

Bravo.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Directed by: Peter Jackson

Written by: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo Del Toro; adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit

Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Connolly, Benedict Cumberbatch, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Evangeline Lilly, James Nesbitt, Lee Pace, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Hugo Weaving