"Will you follow me, one last time?" The Hobbit trilogy concludes

We come to it at last. After two previous chapters that were at times uneven and overlong, with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, director Peter Jackson has delivered a much leaner, more satisfying war epic that feels far more like the earlier Lord of the Rings films than either of the earlier installments.

The action picks up immediately where The Desolation of Smaug ended, with the vengeful fire drake unleashing flames and fury upon the residents of Lake Town. Now that Thorin has reclaimed Erebor, he fears all of Middle-earth will descend on the mountain fortress, hungry for the dwarves' ancestral treasure. With a strong nod to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Thorin succumbs to the dragon sickness, consumed by greed and paranoia.

Poor Bilbo is caught in the middle and tries to help Thorin come to his senses. The tension builds quickly as vying forces converge on Erebor. Bard and the men of Lake Town, along with Thranduil and a force of elves, while the vile Azog positions his legions of orcs and goblins.

I'm happy to say it - I was delighted and thrilled by this movie. There's a great scene where Saruman and Galadriel join forces to rescue Gandalf, and it's awesome. Saruman's clearly been taking his Centrum Silver, as he spryly mops the floor with his evil opponents.

The bulk of the film is the titular battle, when armies collide outside of Erebor, as Jackson stages a worthy companion piece to his epic Pellenor Fields battle from The Return of the King. The action is amazing and Jackson unleashes a complete bestiary of horrific monsters, colossal worms and numerous behemoth cave trolls, each more bizarre and lumbering than the last. It all builds to a phenomenal series of clashes high atop a frozen waterfall, giving us some of the most gripping and immediate fighting scenes of the entire saga. Azog is truly a horrifying and terrible foe.


Orlando Bloom returns to his antigravity glory as Legolas (perhaps now a bit more fuller of face) and the audience loves it. Those who took issue with Jackon's additions in previous films may have cause to rethink things a bit here. We see very clearly why Tauriel was added and her feelings for dwarf Kili become a major part of this story. The Battle of the Five Armies isn't just a war movie, it's an anti war movie. I'd argue that at the heart of this story, Jackson is being more than true to the message J.R.R. Tolkien cared about telling the most - that war is a terrible wast of life, and that there is no greater treasure on this earth than being in your own garden with acorns to plant and tales to tell.

It does feel like there is likely plenty that Jackson's holding back for the inevitable Extended Edition blu-rays. The chariot on the ice we glimpsed in the trailer isn't even seen here. The one scene that feels a bit off occurs when Thorin is grappling with doubt over his choices and we hear voice after voice of characters from previous scenes conveying their fears, echoing in his mind. It goes on way too long to the point that it feels like a parody of the cinematic device. But that's a pretty minor carp. That, and the anachronistic moment when a dwarf goes all Jax Teller and exclaims, "I got this."

To the overwhelming degree, Peter Jackson has delivered a magnificent and truly satisfying conclusion to his epic Hobbit trilogy. It brings things to a close in a way that honors Tolkien and gives moviegoers a truly old fashioned dose of epic adventure. As Billy Boyd's stunning end titles song begins to play, we realize we really are saying a final goodbye to Middle-earth, and it's an emotional - and truly worthy - farewell. Highly recommended.