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The Defining Chapter.

The Hobbit – The Battle of the Five Armies, USA/New Zealand, 2014. Directed by P. Jackson, written with F. Walsh, P. Boyens and G. del Toro (from the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien). With Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lily, Benedict Cumberbatch. Original music by H. Shore. Length: 164′. Rated: PG-13.

Bilbo and his friends witness Bard as he slays the dragon that is destroying Laketown. After the death of Smaug, Thorin barricade his company inside the Lonely Mountain, affected by that same disease that drove his grandfather mad. The Arkenstone, found by Bilbo, is the perfect present for Bard, who wants the part of the treasure thorn promised him to help his people, but Thorin, around and stubborn, gets so angry that calls upon his fellow dwarf tribes to help him defeat the men and the elves, come to Laketown’s people’s help. But these three armies have to be aware of the terrible menace held by Azog, his ogres and their terrible allies…

This last installment comes at quite the right time. As Peter Jackson’s stature still can’t be discussed, the last Middle-Earth movie collapse under the deficiencies that the first two (or five) movies succeeded in avoiding and, though spectacular, leaves a taste of partial failure that doesn’t feel right at the end of this great project.

The movie opens with the battle against Smaug, which surely is intense and well balanced with light moments portraying the Master of Laketown falling funnily to his own greed while Bard plays the humble hero; after that, the last (and greatest) battle is forecast and talked upon for a very long time, without any help to the story’s tension, so that when it comes is more of a liberation than a highlight. Also, the battle itself, as well done as it is technically speaking, suffers the same problem as the second movie did, the extremely fast movements and shots, getting a sense of confusion that doesn’t always let the audience get what is going on; and the numerous pauses, with slow talking and prosaic commonplaces, often drop the suspense, so that the acrobatic skills of the characters seem like they are thrown in random order to get the viewer’s attention back.

Still nothing is left to choice and all the story’s plot points are well (maybe too well sometimes) explained so that the final impression is still positive, thanks to the still wonderful photography and production design.

The cast gets a little under the bar since the other installments, as I can tell; Richard Armitage/Thorin most of all, since its mood and opinion changes seem too unpredictable and hardly comprehensible, like the actor couldn’t explain them himself. Orlando Bloom pays some incredible, or best unbelievable, acrobatic shots, which raise his character too high to be plausible even for a fantasy as this is, while Martin Freeman, less important than before, slips slowly away from the story, getting back to be decisive when it’s most unexpected.

Howard Shore gives his incredible skills to this last project like perhaps no one else do, so that the very ending, with the beginning of the “Fellowship of the Ring” story and the credits song, “The Last Goodbye”, turns to the original trilogy with a strong sense of nostalgia and tries to hold the fans to the great beauty of that movie(s).

Unfortunate ending to a massive effort, Peter Jackson should be hunted by remorse, though the project in its entirety is much more than appreciable; if anything, one can only advise to watch the Hobbit movies before The Lord of the Rings, so that the quality cannot do but get up and up.

 

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