Bilbo and Company are forced to engage in a war against an array of combatants and keep the terrifying Smaug from acquiring a kingdom of treasure and obliterating all of Middle-Earth.
This film is a fitting cap to an extended series that, if nothing else, has transformed Tolkien’s place in the wider culture.
The debate will continue to rage over whether The Hobbit needed to be split into three movies, but Peter Jackson has completed his six-film Middle-earth cycle without dropping the ball: one of the great cinematic achievements.
For all its loose ends, The Battle Of The Five Armies is the strongest, boldest film in the Hobbit trilogy and provides just the send off that the series deserves.
A fitting conclusion to Jackson’s prequel trilogy and a triumphant adieu to Middle-earth. Now complete, The Hobbit stands as a worthy successor to The Lord Of The Rings, albeit one that never quite emerges from its shadow. Jackson has crafted a grand old tale to do Tolkien proud, and with a single, simple bow in the final moments, one that offers a far cleaner send-off than Return Of The King ever did.
The Hobbit has moments of visual splendour, fizzing imagination and fervour, but it lacks the grandeur of Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings films.
The finale - and indeed the entire Hobbit trilogy - still pales in comparison to Jackson’s previous Middle-earth adventures.
On the plus side, the post-credits sequence called The Lord of the Rings is really good.
Jackson’s latest trilogy ends not with a bang or a whimper, but with an almighty clamour.
No alarms and no surprises. Polished and predictable.
Jackson’s pumped-up final hobbit movie really works: it’s exciting, spectacular, genial and rousing. And it makes do with one ending.
In its sweep and brio, The Battle of the Five Armies makes up for the tentative beginnings of the trilogy. This is the pay-off. It’s a tremendous cinematic spectacle.
Jackson repeatedly demonstrates his masterful ability to marry the biggest moments with the smallest details. He may have intermittently lost his storytelling footing over the course of these three films, but with The Battle of the Five Armies he gets there in the end.
Despite the admirable Martin Freeman, this last film of a bloated trilogy offers few departures from a tried and tested formula.
Peter Jackson on bringing LOTR, The Hobbit to life
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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