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.

X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Super powered mutants, evil robots, time travel and a whole lot of flares and sideburns going on you wouldn't expect Bryan Singers newest X-Men outing to be anything but groovy, I just wish that was the case.

The latest in one of the longest running comic book movie series going, Days Of Future Past shows our favourite team of exceptional youngsters not so fresh faced anymore. Initially beginning in a dystopian future where mutants and the majority of mankind are all but extinct, no thanks to Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinkalage-Game Of Thrones) an anti-mutant military scientist who created the Sentinel Program, giant morphing robots that seek out mutants to purge them from the earth. Singer begins the film with imagery reminiscent of a concentration camp, bodies being strewn around by machines and the disheveled living wandering through cages. This is where old Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and old Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen) hatch a plan to send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back in time to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing Trask and changing the future they reside in. It's a lot to take in this soon into the movie but just go with it, there's so much else that will aggravate you if you think too hard about it and the plot almost pleads with you just to enjoy the ride.

Wolverine must now bring together a haggard and somehow walking Young Xavier (James McAvoy) now powerless after Beast gives him a serum he can take that takes away his powers but lets him walk again. Apparently injections can heal a broken spine, it's pretty dumb. Also having to find the other side of the morality coin is an imprisoned young Magneto (Michael Fassbender) serving life sentences for the apparent murder of President John. F. Kennedy one of the films highlights stems from his rescue with the aide of the super speedy Quiksilver, It's very reminiscent of the opening scene to X2 but somehow the schoolboy style humor he brings keeps it well in your mind after the credits roll.

As much as the internet seems to be loving Jennifer Lawrence at the minute and her characters development from happy go lucky shy girl to conflicted revolutionary is second only to Xavier's transformation into the wise teacher he'll become, she seems to get an abnormal amount of screen time as apposed to some others who could have desperately used it. For instance Trask's motivation for wanting all the mutants isn't that compelling and he's nothing more than a face for the films villains. As much as I hate the casting of Halle Berry as Storm it wouldn't have hurt to see more of what the future mutants could do, Iceman uses his classic ice slide for a moment and fan favourite Blink fights using portals which I left thinking she had one of the more visually stunning powers.

The film flogs a lot of what you've seen before however, Mystiques eyes glowing yellow while she's transformed and the obligatory Wolverine popping the bullets out of his chest/slow unsheathing of the claws, at times it feels like ideas were running thin in the creative department and even some new things they tried are a little forced (Beast can apparently Hulk out now) Everything aside however the performances are usually convincing, McAvoy and Fassbender outdo their elders and seeing the younger versions of characters you're used to be so flawed and full of youthful rage is a refreshing change of pace.

In it's own right the film is perfectly adequate, an oft confusing plot but full of great dialogue and high octane action pieces will keep you hooked, despite this if you're a fan of the series the contradictions to the other films and lazy wink to the audience will leave you feeling deflated.