Movies: The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

Score:  **** out of ***** (A-)

Long Story Short:  Battle of the Five Armies recalls The Return of the King in many ways, besides being the conclusion in a Tolkien trilogy.  Despite falling well short of that Best Picture-winning movie, it's still a triumphant effort.  Besides being stale at this point, the big battles indicated in the title are numbed by video game-like CGI.  Fortunately, the character battles - both action and emotional - are quite good, led by Freeman's outstanding Bilbo.  If you're a fan of these films, then I recommend you catch the trilogy finale in theaters.


At last, a review for a movie on its first weekend of release!  Thanks to the last Hobbit film's mid-week release date, I am able to be a little earlier than usual this time.  I also saw another film that was released earlier; since I'm already "late" for that one, I'll post it next week.  A number of other good options are being released at the end of December but I don't know which ones will be released in my theater (many are starting in just NY and LA).  Well, this was probably my second most anticipated film of the year (after Interstellar).  As the Lord of the Rings films quickly secured a place among my all-time favorites, I have eagerly anticipated each Hobbit film as well.  While the first two were not Lord of the Rings-level good, they were still very good.  And now for the finale!  The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies was directed by Peter Jackson and stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, et. al.

The action picks up right where The Desolation of Smaug left off.  Bilbo and the dwarves failed to slay Smaug the dragon at the end of the last one, and the beast now flies to the nearby Laketown in a rage.  He engulfs the city in a conflagration, but one of the citizens is able to bravely stop it.  Now homeless, Laketown's people make their way toward the ancient, abandoned city of Dale on the footstep of the Lonely Mountain (where Smaug came from).  News of Smaug's demise spreads quickly, and a race begins to claim the vast store of treasure that he had hoarded.

Dwarves, Elves and Men each have their own interests in the mountain, its treasure and the surrounding land, but they soon find that they are all in danger of being wiped out by the evil orc armies.  Only working together, both armies and individuals, can the varied peoples of Middle Earth prevent their destruction.

Battle of the Five Armies returns the principle cast of the first two Hobbit films, and adds a few more characters.  Martin Freeman as Bilbo the Hobbit is superb once again.  After a reduced role in the second film, he is fortunately prominent again in this one, despite it being action heavy.  You can read my review of the first film for my reasons why Freeman is a perfect Hobbit.  He is more serious in this one, but equally effective.  Next up is Thorin, the leader of the Dwarves.  Despite his leadership, he did not really stand out to me in the previous films - but in this one, he definitely takes the spotlight.  Armitage is most effective when coveting his treasure early in the film (more on this later).  While he's more of a generic hero in the second half, he's still more distinguished here than in the previous films.

Everyone else (and that's a lot) is basically a supporting player.  Ian McKellen as Gandalf has a disappointingly small role - in fact, it may be the thing I most regret about the film since he's so good.  Luke Evans gets a decent size part in the first half as Bard; his character, like Thorin, is more distinctive this time, and he does a good job (even if he's still Aragorn-lite).  Tauriel (Lilly) the elf and Kili (Turner) continue their stale "romance", blessedly briefly, and Legolas has more awesome action scenes even if he isn't much of a character.  Finally, Tolkien-verse favorites return for some brief but kick-ass action:  Saruman (Christopher Lee), Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and Cate Blanchett (Galadriel).

The final chapter of the Hobbit is parallel in many ways to The Return of the King (the last of the Lord of the Rings).  Both are epics that are challenged to balance vastly different objectives:  massive battles and personal struggles with equally high stakes.  Along with this is an expectation of both exhilarating action sequences and poignant emotional ones.  While uneven and with a few stumbles, Battle of the Five Armies is successful overall in this mission.  The weakest link I would say are the epic battles between armies.  Sure, there are some cool CGI effects, unexpected touches, and they (sort of) go all out.  But here the CGI-heavier nature of the Hobbit films - and these battle scenes in particular - also show their weakness.  The CGI, while perhaps necessary, also acts as a wall to believability, and it feels much more like a video game (I know the elves are disciplined, but do they all have to move exactly in precision?).  And many of the overall tactical elements are quite obviously just plot-driven and not very logical/"realistic" (relatively speaking).

Fortunately, the movie works much better at the personal level - both emotionally and in the action scenes.  The most intriguing relationship is between Bilbo and Thorin, one that doesn't last all that long.  In place of the Ring (which Bilbo does have, and comes up a few times), the main source of evil influence is the treasure in the Mountain, which twists Thorin in both believable and story-relevant ways.  Bilbo plays an important role here, which serves as the most touching part of the film.  Of course, the conclusion of the film has the usual happiness in victory, sadness over deaths, and welcome return to the Shire for Bilbo which are all effective (esp. the latter) - and much briefer than Return of the King.  As for the action, this is much, much better than the CGI armies.  This is mainly comprised of Thorin and Legolas each taking on a leader of the Orc army, and they're probably the best battles of the Hobbit trilogy.

***

Is the Battle of the Five Armies as good as The Return of the King?  Hell, no, but that's certainly no insult to the final chapter of the Hobbit films.  There are some interesting comparisons between the Star Wars and... Jackson/Tolkien (?) film franchises.  Each are made up of two trilogies (well, that's about to change), and the trilogies in each series are stylistically distinct from each other - and even in parallel ways at that, I'd argue.  Jackson's trilogies are more closely related to each other, but still different.  The Hobbit films, tone and story are more pure entertainment and appropriately (if overall also disappointingly) more CGI-based.  Humans in orc costume are quite a bit more frightening than today's most impressive, big and bad CGI orcs.  Much of The Lord of the Rings is essentially about escaping or defending from evil, whereas The Hobbit goes out to find it, to a certain degree.  There are plenty of other differences, of course, but those overall differences are a large part of what drew me into LotR significantly more than The Hobbit.

As I mentioned in my review of the first Hobbit film, I am quite impressed by the way that Jackson retained much of the LotR Middle Earth setting, visually as well as in tone.  And Martin Freeman was the home run of the trilogy - despite being the lone Hobbit, he was better than any of his peers from the LotR films.  The Hobbit films are worthy, if lesser companions to the LotR:  they truly inhabit the same world, and are damn entertaining.  So if you've seen the other two Hobbit films, I'd recommend that you go out to the theaters to see this satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.




"The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit:_The_Battle_of_the_Five_Armies#mediaviewer/File:The_Hobbit_-_The_Battle_of_the_Five_Armies.jpg

Movies: Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Score:  ***1/2 out of ***** (B-)

Long Story Short:  Since it worked twice before (financially), Hollywood decided to do it again - splitting the final book of a popular YA series into two films.  The Hunger Games filmmakers had their work cut out for them with this book, and it didn't help that their star Jennifer Lawrence isn't any better as Katniss this time.  Obviously, avoid if you haven't seen the first two films - but if you have, this is a watchable set up for the finale, thanks to a good supporting cast and a decent war atmosphere.


Although I'm a bit late with this one, today's film review marks the start of the holiday blockbuster season.  Rest assured, there are more to come in December!  As I've noted in my review of the other Hunger Games films, I read the trilogy of books about a year or so before the first film came out.  I enjoy the stories, although I wouldn't put it among my favorites.  Still, I'm certainly interested in seeing through the conclusion of the film adaptations.  The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 was directed by Francis Lawrence (also did Catching Fire) and stars Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, et. al.

Picking up where the story left off in Catching Fire, Katniss (Lawrence) has been retrieved from the arena of her second Hunger Games' event.  She is now with the rebels, located in the hidden, underground, supposedly destroyed District 13, along with the survivors of District 12 (her home area).  While Katniss is relieved to be reunited with her mother, sister, and childhood friend, Gale (Hemsworth), she is tormented by the horrific experiences of two different Hunger Games and the loss of friends from the Games, including Peeta (Hutcherson).  She is given little time to recuperate, though:  the leader of District 13, Alma Coin (Moore) insists that Katniss be used as a propaganda tool in the fight against the government and its seat of power, the Capitol.

With help from friends both old and new, Katniss is persuaded to join the cause, though it puts her right back in the thick of the danger.  And she discovers that Peeta is not dead, but rather put to horrifying use by the Capitol.  With a symbol to rally around, rebels across the country push harder and harder against their oppressors - but the fight has only just begun.

As with the other films in the series, Mockingjay Part 1 has a tremendous cast.  Despite this, I'm still not happy with Jennifer Lawrence in the lead as Katniss.  In fact, I think she might be worse than before (partly due to her different role in this film).  Ironically, the film intentionally pokes fun at Katniss' early attempts to film propaganda pieces - she simply comes off as inauthentic.  But this is increased by the fact that Lawrence herself seems hard-pressed to fit this role, as well as other aspects of her character.  As I've mentioned before, she has done really well in other roles - but this one just doesn't work for her.  Three films in, I have to say this is the biggest (and it's a doozy) problem for the film series.

Fortunately, Lawrence is surrounded by a (mostly) tremendous supporting cast.  Highlights are Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final roles; even if the part is pretty cliche, he is still so fun to watch and delivers a few great lines.  And the best one-two punch, as it has been since the start, is Woody Harrelson as grumpy veteran Haymitch and Elizabeth Banks as air headed yet layered Effie.  Both are tremendous fits and seem to really relish their roles.  I only wish they had more screen time.  Newcomer Julianne Moore is leader Alma Coin; she effectively makes her vaguely off-putting yet difficult to read (a little bland so far).  Hutcherson as Peeta just gets a few brief parts, unfortunately, after his breakout in Catching Fire.  In his place, the incredibly dull (as character and actor) Liam Hemsworth gets the spotlight as Gale.  Finally, there are other familiar faces that get fleeting but appreciated appearances (Stanley Tucci as Caesar, Jeffrey Wright as Beetee, etc.).

Hunger Games is now at least the third major YA franchise (following Harry Potter and Twilight's lead) to break up its final book into two films.  It's tricky enough to create a compelling film from a book in the middle of a series, but with an abrupt start and no clear break in the story, the task is even harder for these films.  Fortunately, Mockingjay Part 1 pulls it off about as well as can be expected.  It all takes place either in the cramped underground spaces of District 13, or the devastated rubble of former cities, which makes for a rather sobering experience.  While Lawrence is unable to generate much personal connection by herself, there is a fascinating propaganda war between her and Peeta.  Scenes of her with Gale are wastes of time, but once things get going there is a neat little bond that develops among Heavensbee (Hoffman's character), Haymitch, Effie, Beetee and so on.

Part 2 is where the real fireworks will surely be set off, but Part 1 also squeezes in some action, too.  With no more actual Hunger Games to show, the film pivots to some fairly genuine war scenes that avoid gore but still create a realistic setting.  The film does have a few high points, and even a climax, but it really should have been shorter for all the story is advanced (cutting Gale's part way down would have been a great start).  Finally, the film does still a retain a modest sense of humor like the others, driven almost entirely by Haymitch, Effie, Heavensbee and company.

***

In sum, the experience of Mockingjay Part 1 is pretty much, "eh."  This should be obvious by now, but if you haven't seen the other two Hunger Games films yet, don't even think about watching this one yet.  If you have, this is a perfectly watchable movie but not what one would expect from a blockbuster franchise.  Again, the filmmakers had quite a challenge splitting Mockingjay into two different films - add in the fact that their lead really just doesn't cut it, and it's kind of amazing that it's as good as it is.  Credit that to a good script which, after a bit of a rocky first few minutes, finds a good narrative flow apart from the useless Gale scenes - as well as to an entertaining supporting cast and some pretty good war scenarios.  Next year, of course, is the conclusion to this series which should be more satisfying.  But that's OK, since this year we get to finish the (underrated) Hobbit series!







*3rd teaser poster for the film The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games:_Mockingjay_–_Part_1#mediaviewer/File:MockingjayPart1Poster3.jpg