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Saturday, December 20, 2014

The Hobbit Battle of Five Armies Review: No False Advertising

The title says it all.  There was a Hobbit.  There were five armies and they were all fighting each other.  For about 2 1/2 hours.  There really isn't much to say about it.  It's a 2 1/2 hour climax to the previous two movies.  All the cliffhangers from Desolation of Smaug are tied up in a nice little bow and it comes to a satisfying conclusion.  If you took the journey from the beginning up to this point, you will leave satisfied.  If you haven't, then there's no point.  You won't know the characters.  You won't know why they are there.  You won't understand the development of the characters.  You won't understand what the conflict is about. 

I will say that the visuals are hit and miss.  Sometimes they are just wonderful.  Other times it's painfully obvious it's a green screen.  I don't see any point in seeing this in 3D.  Yeah it would be cool to see Smaug in 3D with all the fire.  It will be cool to see the diamonds flying around.  But it's two scenes in a 2 1/2 hour movie.  You tell me if it's worth the extra money. 

The ending basically follows the book.  I read the book.  And it's the worst ending to an adventure I've ever read.  Bilbo gets knocked in the head and when he wakes up, the fight is over.  At least in this we see the action.  So this is a rare time the movie is better than the book.  At least in this regard. 

Of course the padding gets tied up too.  And it ends as expected.  If you read the book it is even more obvious.  I didn't initially like all the padding but with some time to reflect on it, I won't say I like it, but I understand why it was added.  It gives depth to characters that in the book never got.  In the book, Bard is just a guy.  He has no story and we wouldn't ever know his name if he didn't kill Smaug.  At the very least in the movie we see him as a family man with a loving wife and great kids.  He has a family history with Smaug and his family's reputation is in the toilet because his grandfather failed to kill the dragon.  Is it believable, kinda.  Is it better than nothing?  Absolutely. 

The same can be said about Kili.  The dwarves in the book have very little characterization.  Fili and Kili are the youngest and they are Thorin's nephews.  That's the only real character they get.  Now Kili has a love triangle.  It gives him a chance to show a different side.  Was it what I would've done?  No.  But in hindsight, I understand why they wanted to give at least some of the other companions an arc. 

That's about all I can say.  It's a great conclusion to an epic tale.  It's not a stand alone movie.  You have to see the first two.

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