Film review: The Hobbit – The Battle of the Five Armies 3D (12A)

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 3D (12A)

Over the past three years it’s safe to say that few films have matched The Hobbit trilogy in terms of offering a stellar cinematic experience.

Like Avatar, Gravity and more recently Interstellar, some films were just made for the grand stage – and I class Peter Jackson’s latest Tolkien trio of films in that bracket.

I’ve always regretted not watching the Lord of The Rings trilogy on the big screen. There’s just something about Middle Earth and its characters that really appeals to me now that I didn’t buy into during my University years.

With that in mind, my expectations were pretty much sky high ahead of The Battle of the Five Armies at Boston’s West End Cinema.

I’ll not offer up any spoilers or take up too much of this review by recapping the past two films, but those of you in the know will remember that last year’s The Desolation of Smaug ended on something of a cliff hanger.

Fear not, as Five Armies picks up right where we left off – and serves up perhaps the best opening to a film I’ve seen this year.

The storyline involving devilish dragon Smaug, again voiced menacingly by the excellent Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock), reaches a very satisfying conclusion and leads us into the wider storyline in spectacular fashion.

It’s just one of the countless epic scenes that are served up throughout the 2.35hrs run time. For those of you new to the trilogy, don’t be put off by what some would consider a pretty lengthy movie.

I never felt like Five Armies outstayed its welcome or was treading water. In fact, I’m already looking forward to the extended 3D Blu Ray release next year to get my fix of even more of the story.

But I digress. If An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug were very much centred on Hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman – The Office), Five Armies shifts focus to Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage – Strike Back).

Having essentially achieved his goal of reclaiming the lost Dwarf home in the Lonely Mountain during the last film, he’s a much changed figure in this conclusion.

All I’ll say is forget what you know about this central character, as he’ll be pretty much unrecognisable (personality-wise) for large periods. Regardless, this is very much his story.

Indeed, Bilbo almost plays second (or even third) fiddle in this one, although his bravery and downright defiance in one pivotal moment is one of the stand-out periods of the script (story-wise).

Don’t forget, Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellan – X Men) was in pretty dire straits when we last saw him at at the ruined fortress of Dol Guldur.

What that plot allows us is an amazing glimpse at the magical power of the usually elusive Galadriel (Cate Blanchett – The Lord of The Rings trilogy). Along with Sauruman (Christopher Lee – Star Wars) and Elrond (Hugo Weaving – The Matrix), she shares a chilling and enthralling scene in a battle against the evil powers of Sauron in a bid to free the legendary wizard.

It’s another of the many stunning scenes on show and is perhaps the last great one to involve Gandalf, one of the most iconic characters of modern cinema.

As you’ll gather from the title, the main event is very much the monstrous battle that serves as the trilogy’s climax. That centres on Bard’s (Luke Evans – Fast and Furious 6) humans, Thranduil’s Elves, a hoard of Dwarves led by Thorin’s cousin Dain (Billy Connolly) and, of course, the evil Orcs.

CGI baddies Azog and Bolg are once again the chief villains of the piece and do star in enjoyable one-on-one fights at one stage or another.

I’ve not even mentioned Elves Legolas (Orland Bloom – Pirates of The Caribbean) and Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly – Lost), who both play sizeable roles here. And that’s perhaps testament to just how big this finale is. Five Armies is packed with both amazing acting talent and top quality CGI.

Those of you that don’t relish the high frame rate (HFR) 3D will no doubt be disappointed with the scale of the CGI used, but I really felt that it added to my experience.

As with Lord of The Rings, there are multiple endings for the many characters – and it’s worth remembering that Five Armies serves both as a bridge to the LOTR trilogy and a conclusion to this one.

And if you’ve not seen any of either trilogy, I’d widely recommend that now is the time to get involved.

Rating 4.5/5 (watched at West End Cinema, Boston)

Showtimes at West End Cinema, Boston
(December 19 to December 24)

EVENT CINEMA

THE NUTCRACKER
3pm (Sunday, December 21 only)

FILMS SHOWING

**DUMB AND DUMBER TO (15)
6.30pm (Fri-Weds), 8pm (Fri-Tues)

**NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: THE SECRET OF THE TOMB (PG)
12.30pm (Sat-Weds), 2.45pm (Fri-Weds), 5.30pm (Fri-Weds), 8pm (Fri-Tues)

THE HOBBIT: BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES IN HFR 3D (12A)
5.10pm (Fri-Weds), 8.15pm (Fri-Tues)

THE HOBBIT: BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES 2D (12A)
2pm (Sat-Weds)

TINKERBELL: THE LEGEND OF THE NEVERBEAST 2D (U)
10am (not Fri/Weds), noon (not Sun/Weds), 12.45pm (Wed)

**ANNIE (PG)
10am (Sat/Weds)

PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR 3D (U)
10am (Not Fri), 2.10pm (Fri-Weds)

PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR 2D (U)
Noon (Sat-Weds), 4.20pm (Fri/Sat/Mon/Tues/Weds)

PADDINGTON (PG)
10am (not Fri/Sun), noon (Fri-Weds), 2.15pm (Fri/Weds), 4.30pm (Fri/Weds), 6.40pm (Fri-Weds)

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PT 1 (12A)
8.45pm (Fri-Tues)

HORRIBLE BOSSES 2
(15) 8.50pm (Fri-Tues)

NATIVITY 3 (U)
2pm (Fri/Sat/Mon/Tues/Weds), 6.35pm (Fri-Weds)

GET SANTA (U)
4.20pm (daily)

KIDS’ CLUB
Sat/Sun 10:30am – How to Train Your Dragon 2 (PG)

SILVER SCREEN
Wed 11.30am – Get Santa (U)

**free list suspended

Box office: 01205 363634
Web: www.westendcinema.co.uk/SavoyBoston