Disappointing!
Unfortunately,
that
is
the
first
and
only
reaction
that
is
spontaneously
evoked
after
seeing
this
film
which
is
dished
out
by
Academy
Award-winning
filmmaker
Peter
Jackson.
"Hobbit:
The
Battle
of
The
Five
Armies",
his
sixth
film
and
the
last
of
the
Hobbit
trilogy,
offers
nothing
exceptional
other
than
prolonged
battle
scenes
with
no
real
trajectory.
If
the
first
two
instalments
of
"The
Hobbit" were
visually
splendid
with
optimistically
exciting
adventure,
this
one
clearly
lacks
in
that
arena.
Who
can
forget
those
opus
packed
editions
with
dollops
of
action
scenes
that
included
fights,
chases
and
romance?
Sadly
all
these
are
missing
in
this
current
film
and
the
spirit
of
the
narration
seems
fatigued.
The
film
takes
off
from
its
last
edition,
"The
Desolution
of
Smaug",
and
hits
the
crux
head
on.
Smaug
(voiced
by
Benedict
Cumberbatch),
the
dragon,
unleashes
his
wrath
on
Lake-town
after
been
"woken".
Now
that
Throin
(Richard
Armitage),
the
king
of
the
dwarfs
has
reclaimed
his
land,
the
Lonely
Mountain,
from
Smaug,
he
finds
himself
suffering
from
"dragon
sickness",
which
means
that
like
the
dragon,
he
too
is
attracted
to
the
treasures.
But
then,
he's
not
the
only
one.
There
are
other
claimants
for
this
treasure
too,
which
include;
the
Iron
Hills
dwarfs
commanded
by
General
Dain
Ironfoot
(Billy
Connolly),
Woodland
Elves
led
by
Thranduil
(Lee
Pace)
and
the
displaced
people
of
Lake-town
who
are
halfheartedly
garnered
by
the
dragon
slaying
boat
captain
Bard
(Luke
Evans).
In
the
meantime,
the
wizard
Gandalf
(Ian
McKellen)
has
identified
the
evil
Necromancer
as
Sauron,
who
has
returned
to
Middle
Earth
and
ordered
countless
Orcs
to
attack
the
Lonely
Mountain.
It
is
Bilbo
Baggins
(Martin
Freeman),
the
Hobbit,
who
despite
his
strong
negotiating
power,
finds
it
difficult
to
drive
sense
into
Throin.
He
admonishes
him
with,
"Is
the
treasure
more
precious
that
your
honour?"
before
switching
sides.
But
by
then,
it
is
too
late.
The
five
armies
--
humans,
elves,
dwarfs,
orcs,
and
eagles
--
are
fighting
over
the
treasure
in
the
mountain
and
the
outcome
is
obvious.
The
screenplay,
written
by
four
writers,
based
on
the
novel
by
J.R.R.
Tolkein,
seems
forced
and
obligatory
with
few
faintly
stunning
strains
of
exciting
action
and
humour
that
are
sporadically
strewn
in.
Overall,
it
is
devoid
of
any
visual
gore
and
emotional
connect.
The
issue
here
is
that
emphasis
is
given
to
action
scenes
and
there
is
no
scope
for
character
arcs
to
develop.
Also,
some
scenes
are
so
rushed
and
taken
for
granted
that
if
you
have
not
seen
the
earlier
two
"Hobbit"
films,
you'd
be
lost.
Visually,
the
film
is
stunning
with
visual
effects
and
computer
generated
images,
but
again
it
shares
the
same
palette
of
all
its
previous
editions.
The
only
exception
here
being,
set
in
winter;
the
action
on
frozen
ice
adds
drama
and
freshness
to
the
otherwise
staid
output.