Movie Adaptation Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

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image source: here. edited by me.

MOVIE ADAPTATION of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

read my book review on The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

"Will you follow me, one last time?"

Finally watched the grand finale of The Hobbit movie adaptation trilogy, and special thanks to my friend who accompanied me to watch it ♥ Because if it weren't for her, I would've waited until the movie is available online. If you've read my post about The Battle of the Five Armies trailer, you would know how much I'm anticipating this movie—mostly because the trailer looks so promising. And now after I finished watching it, the title of the movie is perfect for it because it's a full-on battle for the 2-and-a-half hour duration. Here's my non-spoiling review for the third and final movie adaptation of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (might have a bit of spoiler if you haven't read the book/watched the previous two movies).

Also read:

Movie Adaptation Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Movie Adaptation Review: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Continuing right after the end of The Desolation of Smaug, Smaug has escaped the mountain and decides to destroy Laketown. Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves are watching the place burn down, but Bard doesn't give up easily as he tried to hit Smaug's weak spot with the black arrow. However, the death of Smaug doesn't mean peace for all. Thorin Oakenshield, the dwarves King, has reclaimed the Lonely Mountain—but that alone doesn't seem to satisfy him. Thranduil, an Elven King, came with an army to reclaim a precious gem from the mountain. And he's not the only one who seeks to claim the Lonely Mountain. As Thorin decided not to share even a single coin of gold, war ensues. Bringing the five armies of Elves, Dwarves, Men, and Orcs into a magnificent battle.

"Will you have peace, or war?"
"I will have war!"

I read the book about 2 years ago, and I don't remember the book being this intense! The most memorable part in the book for me was the way Bard managed to defeat Smaug. But in the movie, that scene was made as an intro! The start of the movie totally took my attention as Smaug circled around Laketown and kept breathing fire. According to my lame memory, the battle scene in the book wasn't explained in detail, so the movie adaptation definitely helped enhancing that part. I've probably said this in another post, but I don't really remember everything related with Middle-Earth history (because I didn't get to read all the appendix part at the end of LOTR/The Hobbit books). So watching the movie adaptation feels like a totally different experience compared to reading the book, because there are so many new things that I only just found out.

"I will not hide when others fight our battles for us!"

First of all, I would like to give all my appreciation to Peter Jackson for creating such an amazing movie—the visuals and details are done with perfection. I'm pretty sure making a movie like this requires a lot of movie magic, and I really respect their hard work in creating this grand battle for us to watch. Same respect goes to all the actors/actresses, who I think would have to act with difficulty (since most of the settings are edited with computer graphics). Since we're at this topic, I'll discuss the characters that left an impression to me in the movie:

Thorin Oakenshield:

Oh, Thorin. The source of all the madness in this movie. But I really like seeing his drastic change when he finally reclaimed the Lonely Mountain and is sitting on the throne amongst all the gold. Even though he's quite annoying a little bit in the beginning, he still left a pretty good impression in the end. But very sad, indeed. I love how Richard Armitage portrayed his character :))

Thranduil:
Finally another elf that can actually defeat the gracefulness of Legolas. The actor, Lee Pace, is also a very gorgeous man. Dressing him as an elf just enhance that even more; with that long blond hair, and extremely gracious way of talking. There's a tinge of arrogance in the way he speaks, but it's always oh so elegant. And I especially love his ride, an Elven Elk that looks like a moose with humongous horns.

Tauriel & Kili:
In my previous movie adaptation review, I did say I wasn't very fond of the romance between Tauriel & Kili which was thrown into the movie (but didn't exist in the book). But in this movie, I think a little bit of romance is a good addition amongst all the blood and deaths happening in the war. And I think the romance between these two (Elf and Dwarf) gave some sort of influence to Legolas (oh, poor Legolas..). I love how Evangeline Lilly and Aidan Turner played their characters; emotions are very well portrayed too :'))

“If this is love, i don’t want it. Take it away, please! Why does it hurts so much?”
“Because it was real.”

Galadriel:

She didn't get much screen-time, but it's nice to see her again after a long time. I always knew that Galadriel is extremely powerful, and she just showed it again in this movie. Even though I was shocked and felt like watching a horror movie, she was able to banish Sauron's soul who's about to make a comeback and managed to pend it. And yes, Cate Blanchett still managed to pull off this beautiful and charismatic character after so long.

Bilbo Baggins:

The one and only hobbit is the cutest character among all others, and he's the comic relief of the movie because of what he said and the way acted. Martin Freeman is perfect for the role, and even though he's not involved in a lot of fighting scenes, he still played a really big role. He's one courageous hobbit. Oh, and I love his hairy feet.

Legolas:

I feel bad for Legolas (played by Orlando Bloom) after watching this movie. Back when I watched LOTR, I never knew the story behind Legolas' life; I just saw him as the handsome Elf who's very swift and is also an amazing archer. He's indeed still extremely good at shooting arrows and killing enemies, but seeing his interaction with his father (Thranduil), and the way he protected Tauriel even when she loved Kili—it's just very sad. Come, Legolas, I wouldn't mind lending my shoulders for you :*

Honorable Mention:
Gandalf & Bard. They're important characters, of course, but I don't really have much to say about them.

And of course I should also mention my favorite scenes from the movie:

• I love the scenes involving Bilbo and Thorin interacting with each other; whether it's in the beginning (which are nerve-wracking because I was afraid Thorin found out what Bilbo had), or towards the ending (which is very sad but heartwarming). These two had a rocky relationship, because Thorin used to underestimate Bilbo for being a hobbit. However, in the end Thorin regarded him as a loyal friend :'))

• The White Council fighting Ringwraiths and banished Sauron. Wow, I love how strong The White Council is. The group consists of Galadriel, Elrond, Saruman, Radagast, and Gandalf (who was imprisoned at the time). After Gandalf was rescued, Elrond and Saruman exhibit their amazing power and fight against the Ringwraiths (finally a time when we see Saruman doing good deeds).

• I absolutely love all the battle scenes that involved Legolas in it. It's almost like watching an acrobatic show! The way he use a bat to help him fly towards a place that's too far for him to reach in a short time, he also used a giant to knock down a tower which became a bridge for him. Not to forget, he jumped through a crumbling stone bridge—and the scene was in slow-motion, which made it 10 times more dramatic. Oh! And I finally get to see Legolas ran out of arrows to shoot! (Although I'm unsure if it happened in the LOTR trilogy or not). Anyways, Legolas won the award of best fight for me :3 (especially with the flawless hair).

• Bilbo's farewell. :') He looks so adorably cute when he said goodbye to the dwarvessss ㅠㅠ He even offered them to come for afternoon tea at his place, saying they don't even have to knock (remembering their first arrival at Bilbo's house). Very heartwarming scene. A good way to soothe the intensity of the war.

• The ending. I absolutely love how Gandalf seems like he knew what's going to happen in the future because of The Ring that Bilbo had. Even though Bilbo said he lost The Ring during the war, Gandalf knew the truth. And the last scene takes us to the beginning of The Lord of the Rings movie. On the day of Bilbo's 111th birthday, when a more disastrous war is going to materialize.

I guess it's not fair to compare the movie adaptation with the book, because there are tons of things that are different. The Battle of the Five Armies obviously took most of its' time to elaborate on the war; including all the groups that tried to conquer the Lonely Mountain—which is not only precious for all the riches in it, but also its' strategic position. As I've said in all my previous The Lord of the Rings movie adaptation (1 | 2 | 3), the movie adaptation is a companion that completes the story. Because the movie adaptation adds more details that some readers (like me) might've missed out. And I guess I don't really need to say that you don't have to read the book to understand the story. Even my friend who missed watching the second movie (The Desolation of Smaug), still managed to understand things pretty well.

Overall, I am happy with how The Hobbit trilogy was wrapped up with the grand finale battle (just like The Return of The King). And I do think this trilogy is a perfect prequel for The Lord of the Rings movie adaptation trilogy because it explained how The Ring was found in the first place and what happened during Bilbo's time. However, if I would compare The Hobbit trilogy with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, I actually still prefer LOTR (despite it being made about 10 years ago), story-wise. Because there are 3 books to The Lord of the Rings so it made perfect sense for it to be made into 3 movies; but The Hobbit only consists of 1 book which isn't really that long either. Nevertheless, watching The Hobbit trilogy has been a great adventurous ride, and I will definitely miss Middle-Earth and all the wonderful beings in it. And I guess it's time to really say the last goodbye :'))

*****

"As the snowflakes cover my fallen brothers, I will say this last goodbye."

Many places I have been

Many sorrows I have seen

But I don't regret

Nor will I forget

All who took the road with me

Thank you so much J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson for all the adventures you both have taken me to.

by.stefaniesugia♥ .