Chanthupottu (2005) : A Controversy

                            Chanthupottu is a Malayalam movie directed by Lal Jose and released in 2005 . It tells the story of Radhakrishn...

Dec 18, 2014

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Review

Having thoroughly enjoyed the first two parts of The Hobbit trilogy, the third of the series was a fitting and perfect finale for me. Peter Jackson's prequels to the Lord of the Rings series was highly engaging films with good use of visual effects, grand and beautiful canvas to narrate the plot along with good and solid performances from the actors to support the above factors. Situation in The Battle of the Five Armies is not much different from the previous two movies and in terms of action, the third part scores more though some might feel the war and battles is an overdose.

The Battle of the five armies begins from where The Desolation of Smaug ended. Angry dragon spit fire in Lake Town forcing people of Lake Town to flee for their lives. Bard somehow manage to kill the dragon therby making the huge wealth in the mountain open to anyone. Thorin Oakenshield is already there in Smaug's castle staking his claim for the gold and also the precious Arkenstone but the people of Lake Town too want their share of gold for rebuilding their life. Elf's army and Azog's army also come into picture to stake their claim for the treasure. This leads to an intriguing and interesting battle on cards and Peter Jackson opens up his movie for an epic battle between all these groups.

The film begins well and engages the viewers straightaway but somewhere in the middle portion the momentum gets lost and proceedings becomes dull but it gradually picks up the pace and the final one hour it is a highly engaging action with war & battle pictured in the most brilliant way. The romance between Fili the dwarf and Taureel has little space in this battle drawn movie.At two hours and twenty five minutes, its a lengthy drama that has its ups and downs but overall it was a pleasing and satisfying ending to the three part Hobbit series which ultimately lead us to Lord of the rings series.

On the acting side, Martin Freeman playing the character of the dwarf Bilbo Baggins this time has very little to do and even then he acted out that part well to make us like him. Thorin had a different tone to his character unlike the previous version and Richard Armitage did the character given to him with total conviction. Luke Evans as Bard was the pick of the lot among the actors doing a fine job. Rest of the characters like Wizard Gondolf played by Ian Mckellen, Lagolas portrayed by Orlando Bloom and Evageline Lilly as Taureel were also interesting ones along with a host of other actors.

Technically the film is rich with good visual effects and production values to boost the battle scenes. Cinematography was nice with not so bad cuts. Background score was also impressive in creating the mood for the different scenes. Use of 3D was just ok but couldn't make much of a difference or create a big impact.

Overall, The Battle Of The Five Armies is a must watch movie if you have seen An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug. Peter Jackson deserves credit for making this fantasy film to such an epic proportion to end the series on a high. I will go with three and a half out of five for this final hunt for the hidden treasure in Smaug's castle.

Rating - 3.5 / 5

1 comment:

  1. A fun movie that signals the end of a trilogy that wasn't so bad. Just unnecessary. Good review.

    ReplyDelete

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