The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Movie Review

Since 2001 the adaptations of Tolkien’s Middle Earth have captivated audiences everywhere and after thirteen long years the saga finally comes to a close with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies; a film which has effectively carried the momentum generated by last year’s “The Desolation of Smaug”.

Picking up immediately after last year’s film, Battle of the Five Armies concludes the journey of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and the company of dwarves; having inadvertently unleashed the villainous dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) on the nearby settlement of Lake-town, the group soon realises that they must not only tangle with the dragon but the marching Orc army led by Azog as well, leading to a clash between multiple races who all have their claims to the Lonely Mountain. At 144 minutes long, BOTFA is the shortest of the trilogy and yet it’s also the most balanced in terms of narrative, providing plenty of screen time divided amongst the main characters. There’s hardly a moment where the character focus becomes unbalanced as they all have their own roles to play in the battle. Peter Jackson has constantly defended his decision to extend The Hobbit into a trilogy and BOTFA possesses the best example of that; a great scene featuring the wizards Gandalf (Ian Mckellen) and Saruman (Christopher Lee) along with elves Galadriel (Cate Blanchet), and Elrond (Hugo Weaving) is not only an incredibly tense moment but it also gives a strong link to the Lord of the Rings where the original novel could not. The film also has a great build-up; negotiations between dwarves, elves and humans placed against the ever looming threat of Azog and his army of Orcs give a constant reminder of the battle to come. Unfortunately once the battle comes and goes, the ending does leave a lot to be desired; some of the conclusions feel really rushed, especially the characters who were added in just for the films who don’t really receive a great deal of closure. Perhaps the production crew were trying to avoid prolonging the ending which was irritating for some in 2003’s Return of the King but it still sticks out nonetheless.

Despite its title, Battle of the Five Armies does feature a fair amount of character development in the lead up to the big fight, focusing mainly on Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage); a combination of both his lust for the Arkenstone and disdain for those who would take the Lonely Mountain’s gold away threatens to corrupt and destroy his character and from this we see his character come full circle from his original cause to ultimate redemption. This is contrasted against Bilbo who must not only survive the battle but also finds himself tasked with keeping Thorin’s mind in the right place, even if it means going against his wishes. Bard’s (Luke Evans) tale is lesser in scope but we see him rise from simple bowman to a noble leader over the course of the film. The other characters maintain their performances from the previous films and as such remain likeable and interesting. The lone exception to this is Ryan Gage as Alfrid; he tries his best to add some comic relief to the plot but all he ends up doing is serving a huge distraction from the film’s more action based proceedings.

With a gargantuan battle promised, Battle of the Five Armies is more than capable of putting across the same grand scale that makes the saga as a whole so memorable. The Lonely Mountain feels vast and expansive both inside and out, providing an area ripe for the species of Middle Earth to clash upon. Special mention should also go to the appropriately frightful fire effects when Smaug lays waste to the surrounding areas at the start of the film. The action itself is all well framed, giving a consistently clear view of the heavy action that take place. There’s also quite a few new creature designs this time around from burrowing worms to giant trolls with catapults on their backs which fit into Tolkien’s fantasy setting very well. With that said, some audiences may enjoy the conflict more than others. You get the sense that the final battle was trying so hard to be the ultimate finale of a story which has taken thirteen years to tell on screen and whilst it is suitably large and expansive, it unavoidably falls below the likes of Helms Deep and Minas Tirith as some aspects of the battle receive more attention than others. The clash between the dwarf army and the Orcs in particular can never really reach its ultimate climax as the film focuses more on the main characters and their struggles instead of the overall picture. Regardless of these gripes, Battle of the Five Armies offers just as great a spectacle as all the other films set in Middle Earth have done over the years.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is a fond, if imperfect farewell to one of the greatest fantasy adventures of all time. There’s no denying that The Hobbit trilogy will forever sit in the shadow of its superior predecessors but Battle of the Five Armies still does enough to make a reasonable impression.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

5 Niggling Things: Dishonored

“No piece of media is ever perfect”; those words, placed in my review of “The Last of Us” have led to this new series. The games that I rate highly all have a moment or two that keep them from entering the realm of complete flawlessness. Hopefully I won’t be too nit-picky, but here it is; “5 Niggling Things” with Arkane Studio’s Dishonored.

1. The occasionally fiddly sword play

Taking the more direct approach in Dishonored almost always results in clashing swords with opposing guards and while it is often brutally satisfying to cut your way through to your target, problems begin to arise when battling multiple foes. There’s no way to counter or block multiple strikes at once or chain takedowns together, meaning that unavoidably, you’ll take damage whilst trying to eliminate an entire group of enemies. This makes the swordplay an unnecessary annoyance at times. If there had been a wider range of combat moves to upgrade as the game went on, that would have put the sword combat on the same level as the other ranged weapons at Corvo’s disposal.

2. Predictable plot twists

After creating such an interesting world which draws from the likes of Bioshock and Half Life 2, I had high hopes that Dishonored would also match this with an equally thoughtful and developed plot; unfortunately while Dishonored’s plot does have some intriguing characters and themes, it ends up relying too much on tired twists that really diminished the impact of the story. The worst offence comes after the supposed final mission where Corvo eliminates the corrupt Lord Regent; he returns to the Hound Pits Pub a job well done, grabs a drink and what do you know? He gets betrayed again, this time by the people he thought were his allies in the fight and is dumped in the flooded district of Dunwall to die. It didn’t completely spoil the game’s setting and atmosphere but it did diminish the game’s overall impact a bit, leaving the gameplay to make up for it.

3. Granny Rags or Slackjaw?

Towards the end of the game, Corvo comes across an encounter between the mysterious Granny Rags and gang boss Slackjaw. They have been against each other over the course of the game and now marks the final part of their participation in the storyline. Will Corvo throw Slackjaw into Granny Rag’s mystic cooking pot, or will he free Slackjaw and kill off Rags for good? It’s an interesting dilemma but it also stands out as the one time in the campaign where the game’s freedom of choice is interrupted and you’re forced to decide one way or the other to proceed onwards. Ignoring both characters and getting the key to the door is an unnecessarily difficult process, especially if you’re going for the no alert and no kill playthroughs; attempting to pickpocket the key from Granny Rags always results in her detecting you, making this choice an infuriating part of the story.

4. Infinitely respawning enemies on the final mission

Dishonored’s 9 main missions pack in a great deal of variety; from the multi-layered areas of Dunwall’s streets, the covert operation into Lady Boyle’s party and the final infiltration of Kingfisher Island where all the game’s obstacles and hazards are thrown at you. There’s one tiny thing that keeps the Kingfisher island mission from standing out; respawning enemies. After going through the entire game, successfully eliminating opponents and slipping by undetected, the final mission has enemies reappear in the same location after eliminating one of them, resulting in several annoying moments of getting caught and having to reload a save. This is more of a problem once Corvo breaches the fort and must make his way to the lighthouse as countless numbers of the same enemies emerge from the same steel battlements. Ultimately the issue of respawning enemies does affect the game’s immersion just a tiny bit, a shame, given how the setting and characters actively work to draw the player in.

5. A few inconsequential moments

Dishonored builds its name on player choice, something which it does incredibly well throughout its single player mode. Will you kill indiscriminately, creating high chaos and ultimately hurling the city of Dunwall to a much darker outcome or will you choose to be merciful where others are not? This core moral choice extends into the level design which offers countless ways to traverse and eliminate Corvo’s targets and the game’s three different endings. Indeed you’ll be hard pressed to find a game that can match Dishonored in this regard. But occasionally there are a few instances where the choices you make don’t really have any kind of payoff later on. In one mission for example, you can choose to help Slackjaw obtain a code to a painter’s safe and he will eliminate two of Corvo’s targets non-lethally in return. Devious players will obtain the code but will rob the safe before returning to Slackjaw; this involves getting past the crime boss’s men. The problem is that this deed never comes back to haunt Corvo later on; there’s no hit squads sent out, no berating, no anything. The same can also be applied to the citizens Corvo may happen to rescue or assist, who only give small benefits linked to the mission at hand. These moments stick out because most of the time, Dishonored handles player choice excellently, weaving subtle changes in the levels to reflect the level of chaos. Perhaps if a sequel was to be developed, Arkane Studios could focus on giving more weight to these seemingly ordinary choices.