The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

                I must say I did not expect to see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies as fast as I did.  What I expected to do was wait for it to be released on DVD and then watch the film.  Instead I went to the theatre to see it.  I also watched it in 3D, which is something I do not seek out.  3D is usually very expensive.  Fortunately I know of a theatre that does not charge much, if anything, for 3D.  While I don’t know if I would have missed the 3D had I not seen it that way, it did add something to the film.  There were moments that I did feel part of what was happening on screen.  This was especially true when the dragon Smaug was flying through the village.  I actually felt like I was flying with him.  It was a really fun experience and if there is ever a Hobbit theme park, I think that could make a great ride.

                Before I start going into the story of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies I want to issue a warning.  There is a lot that happens in this film and I may reveal something you really don’t want to know about.  If you want to stop reading here, I understand.  Otherwise, on with the story!

                When the last Hobbit film ended, Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) had just launched his attack on the village.  This film picks up at exactly that point.  Smaug is flying through the village destroying everything in his path.  The villagers are fleeing for their lives as they witness their village crumbling down around them.  Bard (Luke Evans) is the one person who is not trying to escape Smaug’s wrath.  Instead he is trying to find a way to kill the dragon.  When Smaug figures out this is what Bard is doing, he begins to taunt the man.  This is a mistake.  As Smaug harasses him, Bard is given the opportunity to find Smaug’s most vulnerable point and kills the dragon with an arrow.  The village is now free of the one trying to destroy it, but with all the damage Smaug created, it is too late to save the village.  There is only one place for them to go and that is the mountain where the dwarves are.                  

                Despite there being a lot of land to share, Thorin (Richard Armitage) is not happy when he finds out the humans have come to the mountain.  He sees the land as his and does not want anyone encroaching on it now that he has been able to reclaim what his family lost long ago.  Now, if Thorin was not going mad, the humans on the mountain might not have been such a big deal.  His madness is making him paranoid and he believes everyone is out to get him.  He cannot see that the humans are merely looking for a place to stay and not trying to take over his kingdom.

                The situation becomes worse when the elves show up.  They do want something from Thorin.  Somehow the dwarves have a prized possession of the elves and the elves want it back.  They are determined to use whatever force necessary in order to get what they want.  Bard does not agree with this method.  The dwarves owe him and the villagers for their help in getting the dwarves to the mountain, and Bard believes that by rationally talking to Thorin everyone will get what they are looking for.  He thought wrong.                           

                While Bard gives rational conversation a good effort, he walks away empty handed.  Another side effect of Thorin’s madness is he has become greedy.  He does not believe he owes anyone anything, despite giving his word to the contrary.  As much as Bard hates it, the only response to this belief is to declare war.         

                With the elves and humans working together, it first appears that the dwarves are outnumbered.  Then an entirely new group of dwarves arrive having learned their land has been reclaimed.  Now the fight is on, but only for a short time.  While the elves and humans fight the dwarves, an army of Orcs show up, determined to take everyone out.  In an effort to rid themselves of the Orcs, the dwarves join the elves and the humans.  They do everything they can to defeat the Orcs but it is not easy, especially when another army that includes goblins comes to help the Orcs.  With so much fighting and death, it becomes a question as to who will end up surviving until the end.

                There were some surprises in this film for me.  I was not sure if Thorin was going to come out of his madness, but he did.  Also, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) was actually useful.  It is nice to finally be able to say that.  Usually I cannot stand when he is on screen, but in this film he finally did something to help instead of just wander around and be cranky.  I also learned a lot about Legolas (Orlando Bloom).  He is quite a skilled fighter.  The way he used the falling stones as stairs was especially ingenious, and took a lot of talent and ability to do.                          

                Some things were not a surprise.  As I expected, most of my favorite characters died.  Somehow I always like the characters who end up dying or get a bad ending in some way.  This gets really wearing.  For once I would like for my favorite character to not have a tragic ending. 

              As odd as this may sound, one of my favorite parts of the film was the end credits. The credits contained such beautiful drawings, and they kept changing depending on who was being acknowledged on screen. I really wanted to see them all, but the theatre needed to clean up for the next showing. The pictures are something I want to see so much that I am considering seeing the film again on DVD just for the credits. Not that I would not watch and enjoy the entire film again, but it is the credits I really want to see.