So where dear reader should I start with this little slice of celluloid entertainment. Firstly I feel I should address the numbers game. This is the sixth film the Peter Jackson has made about hobbits and their lovely little furry footsteps across, around and in some cases under Middle Earth.
Now whereas the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy had just over one thousand pages to play with the Hobbit doesn't. There was so much story in the original trilogy that there were some characters that didn't even make it on to the screen. Tom Bombadil for example is missing presumed 'chopping' from The Fellowship of the Ring. I mention this because three hundred pages are not even remotely close enough for the basis of three films. Even two would be a push.
Now you can be as creative as you want and include all manner of items and back story from the appendices. Hell you could even throw in half a dozen Christmas recipes from Fanny Cradock and also include the complete works of Shakespeare translated in Esperanto and you still wouldn't have enough solid material to turn what is a best a children's story that would take Joe Average about five hours to read into a trilogy spanning forty eight months and nine hours running time.
Whether it was a studio decision or one that Jackson made himself the truth of the matter is that more films equals more bums on seats, which in turn equals more money and more profits. Then of course there are the inevitable extended cuts and the merchandise circus that comes along with each film. Mr Jackson needs to be careful with his artistic integrity or there's a very good chance that he cod end up being stuck in the same corner as George Lucas, trying to work out where it all went wrong.
So what if the film itself. Well apart from it being a bit bloated with the unnecessary (please see above), it does have some great action and battle sequences in it. That said one of the best shots in the entire film is simple and uncomplicated. It's a conversation between Bard and Thorin. It's shot with them talking to each other through a hole in a defensive wall the Dwarves have had to build to protect the mountain. It shows Thorin in the full throws of Dragon sickness and his complete inability to see anyone as anything other than a potential threat and thief for the treasure that lies within the mountain.
As with the Lord of the rings films Jackson uses the giant Eagles as his Middle Earth 'get out of jail free card'. Basically it works like this. When you see them on screen you know the good guys are going to win. There's also the inclusion of 'Wereworms' which if memory serves do get briefly mentioned at the start of the Hobbit book but they aren't in the final battle where they show up on screen this time. The other small issue I have with the introduction of ‘Wereworms’ is that they are only ever on screen for about ten seconds and they only get used as a device to move the plot forward. They also happen to be huge.
If anyone has read Douglas Adams The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and is aware of his ‘Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space’ quote then you get some idea of how big these worms are. My problem is where have they been for the last five films? Holidaying in a garden centre somewhere?
Oh, and if you’re a fan of Smaug and all of his fiery goodness then I would strongly recommend that you take your seats promptly when you go to see The Battle of the Five Armies as he doesn't make it past the opening credits. What it lacks in Dragons it does however make up for with great acting. Cate Blanchet is back and packs a mean magical punch. Orlando “They’re taking the Hobbits to Isengard” Bloom is Legolas, and if you like your Dwarves Scottish, Homicidal and wielding large hammers than Billy Connolly may just make your day.
So it may sound like I’m Jackson bashing a little bit but I’m not. I really enjoyed watching these films and although I didn’t think The Hobbit was worthy of a trilogy I’d happily watch them again and at some point in the not too distant future I’ll probably end up owning them as well, In all the shiny blu ray virtuousness. The Battle of the Five Armies at is heart is story of absolute power corrupting absolutely. This power manifests itself in the form of more Au than ‘Cash For Gold’ could shake a stick at. The film, where it’s allowed to, stays faithful to the book and without wanting to give away too many spoilers not all of the original party that leaves Hobbiton at the start of An Unexpected Journey make it to the end credits here. It also benefits from not having the fifteen different endings that Return of the King got weighed down with. It’s a fitting conclusion to Tolkiens books and I suspect no one will ever be brave enough to want to bring either of his most famous books back to the big screen during the next fifty years or so. I hope Jackson is now content with Middle Earth and is smart enough to leave well enough alone. He’s brought what many thought was an ‘un-filmable’ series of stories to the masses and he’s done it in style. His motion capture technology is now used by most Hollywood studios as and when required and his effects company Weta is now consistently giving Industrial Light and Magic a run for its money as the ‘go to’ industry standard.
Twitter Review:
Gandalf, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, The One Ring, Sauron, Gold, Battles and a Bard...
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Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2310332/?ref_=nv_sr_1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVAgTiBrrDA
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=137273
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