The Hobbit: Battle Of The Five Armies

The finale to to the Middle Earth saga may not rise up to purge the bad taste left in some fans mouths after the first two Hobbit movies but still manages to recapture some of the original trilogies magic if not a little too late.

Spoilers and shizz...

Leading off immediately from where the Desolation Of Smaug left us we see the Haughty dragon laying waste to Lake Town with only Luke Evans' Bard the Bowman to stop him. Though it's an incredibly short sequence (about ten minutes to be exact) it stands out as one of the most memorable scenes in the movie and captures one of the stories main themes that the unassuming are capable of greater things than thought possible. Not to take anything away from Bard, he's pretty handy with a bow and is a great leader but I wouldn't exactly call it a fair fight, think Mother Teresa fighting off Zeus or something.

Returning to our heroes however, Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage) and his company have recaptured the lonely mountain and it's from the gold littered halls the battle of the five armies all kicks off. Bilbo Baggins, the circumspect protagonist of the story begins to worry about the movies main focus, Thorin, the dwarf prince now finally retaking his homeland is overcome with horrific greed which sends him spiraling into a Gollum inspired madness with a voice eerily reminiscent of the dragon, Smaug.

The strained relationship between the patient Bilbo and abrasive Thorin stands out as one of the films greater moments, Armitage and Freeman share a natural chemistry and even wrapped up inside the fantastical nature of the plot, it's in both of these character we find the most humanity, balancing on both ends of the scale. Though the film is mainly composed of one very long (maybe a little too long) battle of the titular five armies of middle earth, there are undercurrents of sub plots that occasionally draw reference to the original trilogy and finally feel like they belong as opposed to Jacksons' usual shoehorning, yet other plots don't really get resolved and it's all down to the two main gripes with the film.

First off the extended cameo of fan favourite Legolas (Bloom) actually fits and at times even makes you question whether the inclusion of him would have improved the novel (perhaps not but y'know...) Lee pace returns again as king of the wood elves and Legolas' father, Thranduil in a part he plays majestically. Through his speech and demeanor to the cast around him he moves with a grace a warrior should not possess but he makes riding an elk look pretty badass. Time shared between the two gives up some character development behind Legolas that though isn't necessarily needed, it does cement his place in this story all the more.

I love Ian Mckellan, he's fantastic in everything he's in and I'd be happy seeing him play anything, he could play the shark from Jaws and I'd still enjoy it, his role as Gandalf however is drastically cut short in this film however to make room for a forced love triangle between one of the dwarves and new character, Tauriel the elf (Lilly) which is brought down by lackluster and paint by numbers dialogue, I can say this with great confidence as any time a scene arose with the pair of them a groan could be heard all around me in the cinema.

That and this bastard taking up far too much screen time to use the same retired joke at least eight times in the movie.

Though the Battle Of The Five Armies has plenty to go around and an over abundance of CGI aside, captures some of the magic of the battle of Minas Tirith from the Two Towers, Billy Connoly provides some genuine comic relief as the rowdy Dain Ironfoot and the battle between the council of Elrond and the weakened Sauron keeps the pace going even though the story seems to be a little stretched once again.

Speaking of the themes of the movie, While Bilbo would have normally been the narratives focus, instead he's somewhat sidelined so Thorin can take center stage, and as the themes of greed and redemption are personified through his actions it's incredible to watch Armitage organically transition between the two which are made all the more powerful by his final confrontation with the white orc Azog.

I could absolutely go on throwing around the pro's and cons of this movie for pages but like Jackson's final endeavor to Tolkein's master piece I'll end this somewhat cleaner.

Though not all of the die hard Lord Of The Rings fans will enjoy this it still stands as an all around good movie, ending on a familiar scene fans may recognise with the panoramic shots of New Zealand and the soft sounds of Howard Shore's Shire theme, The middle earth saga ends as a story worth telling.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Not so happy Hunger Games everybody.

The penultimate chapter of a four movie series based on a three part book series for young adults proves to be most harrowing yet, Katniss becomes an unwilling symbol in a war between the capitol and the remaining districts yet her head seems more focused on saving her friend Peeta.

Spoilers if you haven't seen/read this yet.

Jennifer Lawrence returns in the role that arguably kick started her main stream career as Katniss Everdeen, two time survivor of the vicious hunger games and all around downer. Living in an underground resistance base after being saved at the end of the quarter quell, here she is introduced to the rebel leader, President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), a no nonsense manipulator who seems disinterested with her associate, Plutarch Heavensbee's (the penultimate role of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) plan to film a propaganda film to stoke the fire underneath the already burgeoning hatred each district has for the capitol.

Despite its target audience the thing that struck me most about Mockingjay is it's somewhat realistic and gritty interpretation of guerrilla warfare, a crew of film makers including Game Of Thrones' Natalie Dormer, are tasked with following Katniss as she visits the remaining districts in secret to put together a propaganda film that will give the oppressed masses a call to arms against the capitol. Lawrence manages to give some weight to her characters reaction to the carcass of her old home and the numerous war casualties, a particular scene involving her losing her stoic demeanor as the result of a makeshift hospital being bombed is perhaps the highlight of the film as it is in this moment she truly becomes the 'mockingjay' and the revolution commences.

Though no good story is without its villain, Donald Sutherland relishes in his role as the suave manipulative President Snow. Playing a psychological chess game with Katniss throughout, he seems to trump her at each turn and uses his greatest weapon, the previously captured Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) as a bargaining chip to break her resolve. In all honesty there is very little action in comparison to the first two films but manages to somewhat make up for it with scenes reminiscent of the blitzkrieg from WWII and urban warfare from the violence in the east. You have to respect the stories aim to bring awareness to modern atrocities to its demographic.

Unpopular opinion time but with it's realistic portrayal of war (that gripping first person view of the SWAT infiltration) it's somewhat undermined by the forced love triangle between Katniss, Peeta and her old friend Gale (Liam Hemsworth/baby Thor.) Yes Katniss is a reluctant symbol for the revolution but it is implied her purpose is realised after the hospital bombing and she would become a self sacrificing and resilient force for good, so why is it the love triangle seems like a bigger deal to her? Katniss is a strong and independent role model but between choosing to save Peeta or fighting a greater injustice they had the chance to really show a heroic side to the character yet waded a little too deep into teenage drama, Like I said unpopular opinion but I stand by it.

As I mentioned earlier however the imagery only somewhat keeps you involved but at just over two hours long and the narrative stretched to fit two movies, Mockingjay at times feels a little bloated and unnecessary, naturally this is only my opinion and many fans would combat me on this point but I can't help feeling that the trend of splitting books into multiple films is nothing more than a money grab to extend a franchises longevity. I'm looking at you Peter Jackson.

All in all it's a good setup for the final outing but Mockingjay suffers from its run time and distinct lack of lasting content, I loved Catching Fire however so maybe I'm just expecting a little more from the series. As blockbusters go, Mockingjay is still worth seeing for all audiences.

It's going to kill me if Hoffman's last movie isn't great...