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

The Hobbit the Battle of the Five Armies is once again and for the final time directed by Peter Jackson, with everyone reprising their roles. We are now left on Middle Earth for the last time and it’s time for a huge battle.

The film concludes with a giant battle between the five armies, all wanting their share of the gold Smaug was protecting, but Thorin played once again by Richard Armitage is corrupted by the gold, he believes he’s the only one entitled to it, meaning he goes back on his word to distribute the gold to Luke Evans’ character (Bard). Resulting in the battle, which was satisfying to watch due to the previous films lacking in that area.

The battle was great to watch but there were problems, first the CGI. It was not good, at some points I was shocked that a film which relies on CGI had bad scenes with it. Straight away I knew CGI. What the CGI should have done was take the non-real and make it real, I wanted to believe that Legolas could skip on stones while mid-air but I couldn't because it didn't feel real. There were other scenes where the CGI let the film down. Some viewers may like the score, but for me it didn't help the battles. A great score, especially for battles should be epic and grand, it should make me want to join the battle, however the score was tame lacking ferocity. I was hoping for a score that heightens the viewing but on some occasions you don’t realise it’s there.

The romance between Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) and Kili (Aiden Turner) was pointless, it never grasped me, and I honestly did not care. The problem was it never grew from the Desolation of Smaug, leaving it wasted. I think they should have just had Tauriel being badass and doing her own thing rather tie her down with another character.

The Hobbit the Battle of the Five Armies does give a heads up to the Lord of the Rings movies which was fine to see… for five minutes. They pushed a few Lord of the Rings character for one scene and that was that. Still cool to watch.

There were good moments in the film. The fighting was great viewing, especially the one on one scenes. They were the most gripping. Also the cinematography was beautiful, which brought Middle Earth to life.

Even though a few things bothered me, I enjoyed watching the film, and I never got bored. This is a Hobbit movie that can be watched again even for those who are not fans of the first two. If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan, a Hobbit fan, fan of both or dislike all you’ll still enjoy watching The Hobbit the Battle of the Five armies, which gets a 7/10