Movie Review: The Hobbit Trilogy

Just yesterday I watched the final chapter in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies, and decided to make a review on all three films. It has become an annual tradition to watch Lord of the Rings around Christmas time and these movies have become classics to me. I remember waiting in line in high school to watch the premiers. I hardly watch movies in theaters as much, however had to make an exception for this recent release. It was well worth the money and a fitting conclusion to the prequel series.

Just like most I was somewhat disappointed when I heard the news that JR Tolkein's book of the Hobbit was going to be adapted into three movies. This seemed like quite a profitable scheme to stretch this short book into three films. However as an avid fan of the Middle Earth fantasy, I was still excitied at the idea of extra footage. 

To add to this excitement was that the same cast and director from Lord of the Rings trilogy was returning for this one. (Peter Jackson, Iam McKellen, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, and Ian Holm) Each character did an excellent job reprising their roles, and director Peter Jackson did a fine job as well in restoring the same Middle Earth from his previous project ten years ago. 

With that said, I can plainly say that these recent films are nowhere near as exciting as the Lord of the Rings series. This is not so much a reflection on Peter Jackson's direction however just the story as a whole. It's a story that is obviously stretched beyond boredom, and would have done nicely as one very long film. One thing to consider is that the original book of The Hobbit is only half the size of the Fellowship of the Ring. It was a children's book, soft in it's nature, and served as a prequel to the much deeper series to follow. These films are also very different from the book, and I feel Peter Jackson may have taken a bit too much liberty with Tolkein's original story. 

An Unexpected Party (2012)

The opening of this trilogy is quite clever as it takes us back to the Shire, the exact scene before Frodo suprises Gandalf for Bilbo's 111th birthday. The older Bilbo (reprised by Ian Holm) is deep into his writing, looking over his old maps and telling Frodo (reprised by Elijah Wood) of his old memories. His memories then fade to 60 years before, where a much younger Bilbo (played by Martin Freeman) is smoking his pipe and happy with his quiet life. That is all until Gandalf (reprised by Ian McKellen) visits him and brings a band of dwarves to his door.

The portrayal of the 13 dwarves is done quite well, as they are a merry bunch, strong and of good cheer. They sing, they eat, they joke, they smoke, and are all incredibly stout warriors. They are lead by their stubborn leader, Thorin Oakensheild (played by Richard Armitage) on a quest to reclaim their home at the Lonely Mountain. They request that Bilbo become join their company as their burglar. After some deliberation Bilbo agrees and joins Gandalf and the 13 dwarves on a journey across Middle Earth to reclaim the mountain from the terrible dragon Smaug.

Along the way Bilbo becomes quite valuable to the company of dwarves as he saves them from three giant trolls and finds a magical ring in a cave. He is able to steal the ring from Gollum (reprised by Andy Serkis) in a game of riddles, and uses it to help him throughout the adventure. All the meanwhile the leaders of middle earth such as Gandalf, Radagast, Saruman, Elrond, and Galadriel become concerned by the return of Sauron through a Necromancer. The film ends in a final confrontation with the dwarves and the warg-riders lead by their cheif orc, Azog the Defiler. Of the three films, this one was my least favorite, and besides the opening scenes I felt it dragged on and was quite boring in adventure.

The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

A year later came the 2nd chapter in Peter Jackson's three part Hobbit series, and this one I enjoyed much more than the previous one. The dwarves continue their journey to the lonely mountain and first come across a skin changing bear, known as Beorn. At this point Gandalf leaves the company to seek this Necromancer with Radagast the Brown. Meanwhile the dwarves get lost in the forests of Mirkwood, where they are captured by giant spiders, saved by Bilbo, then captured again by the woodelves. Here we see the heroic Legolas return to the story (reprised by Orlando Bloom). He leads a band of warriors, including the beautiful Tauriel (played by Evangeline Lilly from Lost). 

The dwarves are held captive in the kingdom of Thranduil (played by Lee Pace) who refuses to let them go. During this time one of the dwarves, Kili falls for the she-elf Tauriel, which I thought was a nice twist to the story. The dwarves are once again saved by Bilbo and his magical invisible ring and escape through wine barrels on a river. They are then chased by orcs and wood-elves in a somewhat ridiclous battle. This was perhaps the dumbest part of the movie, as Legolas jumped from head to head killing orcs. Legolas and Tauriel save the escaping dwarves from the orcs, and choose not to pursue them much longer. However at that point it seems clear that both Tauriel and Legolas are banished from their kingdom.

The final part of the film is the best in my opinion, where we are taken to Lake-town and inside the Lonely Mountain. The dwarves meet a fisherman, named Bard (played by Luke Evans) who smuggles them into the town and helps them find weapons to make their stand for Erebor. However a confrontation emerges within the lake-town by it's corrupt leaders who do not share in Bard's regard for the people. Nonetheless they allow the dwarves to set off on their campaign by striking a bargain that they return a portion of the treasure to Lake-Town. 

The dwarves finally make it inside the mountain, where Bilbo is asked to find and steal the Arkenstone from the dragon Smaug. Bilbo once again uses his magical ring, and luckily he quickly finds the Arkenstone, however he is also discovered by Smaug the Magnificent (a true wonder in CGI graphics). Bilbo is able to escape the dragon's fury, and is aided by the dwarves who engage Smaug in a battle through their mineshaft. At the end of the film it appears the dragon is outwitted and defeated by the dwarves, however it is the contrary, and the film closes with the furious Smaug taking flight to Lake-town. 

The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

The final film of the series was perhaps the most exciting, almost non-stop action. It began right where it left us, with the dragon Smaug beginning to attack Lake-Town. The havoc he brings upon the town is devastating causing many of the townspeople to flee. That is until Bard, with the help of his son, is able to use his black arrow to pierce the dragon's heart. The town is in ruins and word quickly spreads throughout Middle Earth, that the dragon has been slayed and the treasure of Erebor is up for grabs.   

Meanwhile Gandalf is held captive in Dol Guldur, where the spirits of the 9 kings are summoned to finish him off. That is until Galadriel arrives with the help of Elrond and Saruman to fend off this evil. An exciting battle of sorcery takes place where the good are able to cast away the dark spirits. At this point we are given a precursor to Saruman's intentions of helping Sauron return. There is also a hint of love shared between Gandalf and Galadriel, however it is very brief. Gandalf then returns to the lonely mountain, where he knows a great battle awaits. 

The dwarves on the mountain, especially their leader, Thorin, have grown sick and greedy by the treasure. Bilbo refuses to hand over the Arkenstone, for he believes Thorin is no longer himself. To make matters worse an alliance is formed between the men of Lake-town and the woodelves of Thranduil to reclaim some of their treasure from the mountain. It appears war is at the gate of the mountain however Bilbo comes up with a cunning plan to use the Arkenstone as leverage. However this plan makes no difference once Thorin's cousin, Dain arrives with a great army to defend his cousin's claim. It once again appears a battle is about to occur between the elves and the dwarves, that is until Azog the Defiler arrives with a massive army of orcs.

At that point comes an awe-aspiring moment, the true essence of Peter Jackson's artistic filming. The dwarves and elves unit against the orc army, in a beautiful and tactical stand (quite reminiscent of the battles of Helms Deep and Pelanor Fields). Thus begins the war at the foot of the mountain, whilst Thorin and his company look onward unwilling to leave their gate. Legolas and Tauriel join in on the confrontation and also discover a 2nd army approaching to flank the dwarves and elves. At this point Thorin finally comes to his sense and leads his band in a heroic charge. 

There are two great face-offs that occur simultaneously at the climax of the battle. Thorin takes his best wariors, Kili, Fili, and Dwalin to kill Azog. Meanwhile Legolas faces off and kills Bolg in a long dramatic battle. To my surprise Kili, Fili, and Thorin are all killed in the end by Azog. Thorin however is ale to defeat Azog with his final thrust, and says a fitting farewell to Bilbo before he dies. What was especially disappointing is the heartbreak that came from Tauriel after she saw Kili was dead. 

This finale was all an abrupt and unexpected shock to me, that did not exactly make for a happy ending. Nonetheless Bilbo's adventure had come to an end, and he was accompanied by Gandalf back to the shire. He was happy to be home once again, however a changed person, just as Gandalf had predicted. However it wasn't so much the adventure that changed him yet his discovery of the ring, which of course would pave the way for the great peril to come.