Director: Peter Jackson
Talent: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch
Release Date: 12th January 2015
Esgaroth is burning, the King is in his mountain and Bilbo’s quest is over: all that’s left is a big battle. That’s what you get with Battle of the Five Armies: one big fight, with five armies. It’s lean (by Peter Jackson standards) and mean and what’s more, it’s the best of a trilogy that has struggled to find its way.
The large-scale battles in Five Armies outclass the skirmishes of the previous films both in scope and direction. The waterway fight in The Desolation of Smaug was a fine example of the lows of Jackson’s kitchen-sink style of filmmaking. For all its flash and spectacle, it got in the way of the adventure. Here the direction is better, the scale of combat is bigger and on this macro level we can appreciate Jackson’s work, both in its playfulness and its impressive scale.
This is the best of the Hobbit films but only because it succeeds at making its superfluous action worthwhile. The series remains a poor adaptation of a great adventure story.
Words: Luke Maxwell
