Directed by: Peter Jackson
Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Dean O’Gorman, Aidan Turner, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Ian Holm, Benedict Cumberbatch
At approximately $720,890,142.61, Peter Jackson’s Hobbit Trilogy has become singularly the most expensive film production ever made! Although that’s an obscene amount of money to spend making a couple of movies, you can see every dollar he spent right up there on the screen.
The concluding episode of the trilogy is nothing less than a triumphant; engrossing, breathtaking, and fitting farewell to Middle Earth.
Peter Jackson started his journey to this film about 16-years-ago with the creation of the “Ring” trilogy. Along the way he has changed the landscape of epic film making, created new and innovative CGI techniques, and locked his legacy firmly amid the company of the greatest film directors of all time. Not an easy feat. Additionally, this film, the end of the road for middle earth probably presented him with his biggest challenge to date. One he has risen to conquer. He has ended the trilogy with verve and eye popping excitement, connected all the players and pieces together, lead the story seamlessly into the “Ring” films, and created a film of great entertainment that literally stands on its own. And that ladies and gentlemen is a great big “WOW”.
“Battle” is of course preceded by “An Unexpected Journey” and “The Desolation of Smaug” and picks up exactly where “Smaug” left off. To remind you where that is if you haven’t seen it in awhile, the vengeful dragon is closing in on the watery city of Laketown as its residents try to flee, Bard the bowman is locked in a prison and is unable to defend the city, Thorin Oakenshield is being seduced and charmed by the treasure in the castle, the other dwarfs are on the mountainside overlooking Laketown, and a beaten down ‘Gandalf the Grey’ is near death swinging in an iron cage from a parapet of Sauron’s ruined castle.
However, as great as the film is, it is not without its problems, but they are few and far between. The confrontation with the dragon at the beginning is so spectacular it’s hard to top, there’s a bit too much padding in the center of the piece, and Peter Jackson’s unrelenting desire to deliver epic sequences of unending battle is almost too much. Although, the concluding battle is a bit to long you’ll also find it to be quite spectacular, but for me, it’s the intimate moments during the battle that really impacts the audience, the one-on-one sword fights, the brief and warm loving moments, and the unmistakable kinship and bond that has visually been formed between the 13 dwarfs, the wizard and a tiny hobbit with the heart of a champion.
My take…Terrifically Entertaining Film! Should be seen on the big screen, preferably in IMAX 3-D.
