Review - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), PG-13, 144 minutes -Originally subtitled 'There and Back Again', 'The Battle of the Five Armies' marks the final installment in director Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. This portion of the story shows the events surrounding the party of dwarves - led by heir to the dwarven throne Thorin Oakenshield - reclaiming and then defending their homeland, the Lonely Mountain of Erebor. We are thrust into the action as 'The Battle of the Five Armies' picks up right where 'The Desolation of Smaug' ended, with the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) attacking the people of Laketown. Smaug's vacating the Lonely Mountain allows Thorin (Richard Armitage) and his crew, including Bilbo (Martin Freeman) to re-enter the mountain and begin searching for the Arkenstone, the crown jewel of the dwarven treasure. As the search lengthens, Thorin is increasingly afflicted with 'dra...