The Battle of the Five Armies

I enjoyed the Battle of the Five Armies a lot more than the Desolation of Smaug. The first 90 minutes with the battle with the dragon and the arrival of the Elves just flew by. Then the main battle, which was most of the rest of the film was done extremely well and it didn’t feel like there was too much of it this time. Billy Connolly was superb, as you would expect and Richard Armitage proved even more than before what a fantastic actor he is. Evangeline Lilly was mesmerizing, very different from how she is in Lost.

With the exception of Feely and Keely the other dwarves weren’t featured much as individuals, which is a shame. Having read the book and listened to the audio book many times it was horrible knowing who was going to die and waiting for it to happen.

The new story that was added was very good and all fitted well. However the Orcs from the North never seemed to arrive, let alone get defeated. I’m sure just the killing of the white orc wouldn’t have defeated them. Maybe the eagles and Beorn were enough to finish them off, but the film didn’t show it. Maybe that’s been saved for the DVD extras next year.

Overall it’s a good film, but there are some bits of story missing.

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Paul Grenyer

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