‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’
Starring- Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage and Ian McKellen.
8 out of 10
By Sam Romero ’17
THE ROUNDUP
Peter Jackson’s retelling of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel “The Hobbit,” a book about Bilbo Baggins accompanying 13 dwarves and a wizard on an epic journey, had viewers mesmerized.
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” hit theaters with a boom Dec. 17 starring Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage and Ian McKellen.
This movie tells Bilbo’s ending to his unexpected journey, and the fight among elves, men, dwarves and orcs for the Lonely Mountain.
In the first movie, Bilbo Baggins is recruited by the company of Thorin, the rightful king under the mountain, to steal the Arkenstone from the dragon, Smaug.
In this final installment of the trilogy, the company of Thorin takes back the mountain only to find themselves trapped inside with an army of elves and men each feeling entitled to a share of the treasure inside.
Thorin’s character changes dramatically when he sees the mountain’s treasure.
Jackson does an amazing job showing a sickness of greed growing in Thorin. After a while, he realizes who he is in a very symbolic scene with him drowning in gold.
The movie featured incredible battle scenes, bringing in characters from all the corners of Middle Earth. Wizards join the fight with a shapeshifter and giant Eagles aiding the struggling elves, men and dwarves.
With all the great scenes, there were also some mistakes.
The fans of the novel are very angry about the choices Jackson made in bringing the book to a movie screen.
For example, Legolas and Tauriel, elves from Mirkwood, were not written in “The Hobbit” book. Tauriel is a new character made by Jackson, and Legolas first appeared in “The Lord of The Rings” trilogy.
Jackson made a love story between Kili, one of the dwarves, and Tauriel, an elf, but it was never written by Tolkien. It was poorly planned out and executed and did not give what the viewers came to see.
On order to make room for the love story, Jackson cut out a big part of the battle when the dwarves charge in on rams. The rams are later seen randomly without being explained to the audience how they got there.
Despite all the flaws in the making of the finale of the trilogy, “The Battle of the Five Armies” exceeded my expectations not only with the visual effects but also with the character development in Bilbo and Thorin.