the seed has been sown and now the abundant crop is being reaped
and so it is with the producers of the lotr / hobbit mega-hit trilogies
we know and they know we are not going to stay away for this one
a sort of - well we've come this far we may as well go the distance
and with that no grand expectation of anything new or revelatory
a very clever mini-documentary pre-film showing a bit of history
starting with the 1998 announcement of the commitment to lotr
and a lot of the actors in all the films talking fondly of the trip
we're feeling all warm and fuzzy as the film proper comes on
and picking up where things ended in the desolation of smaug
smaug the dragon has been aroused by the dwarves in it's lair
and is on a mission to destroy the nearby village of laketown
the residents desperately evacuating in boats as smaug swoops
stunning scenes of the winged beast letting rip with firey breath
incinerating all in it's path and a few passes to wipe out the town
ok - it's fantasy but so well done and best summarised as - fantastic
there's also a hero - bard the bowman clambers to the top of a spire
smaug taunts him (in english) - and voiced by benedict cumberbatch
but bard has the legendary black arrow with him and takes smaug out
good/bad - the beast is dead but fears of a rush to take over the mountain
smaug's lair is there within a fortress and a fortune in gold and treasures
the small band of dwarves lead by the wealth-infected thorin digging in
and so the scene is set - this film is all about the fight for the mountain
a 5 way struggle between humans, dwarves, elves, orcs and more orcs
hence the sub-title of the film - the battle of the five armies - ok got it
but then it all starts to get quite random and at times quite confusing
the lack of prior book-consumption on my part may not be helping
though criticism of earlier installments centred around inconsistency
mainly characters with drawcard actors in the film but not the book
and here again cate blanchett and hugo weaving have cameo roles
their scenes do seem a distraction from the main story of the seige
galadriel (blanchett) seen in a strange fight with a team of ghosts
probably stunning in 3d and so now thinking it's all about effects
which of course is essential for these films - to enhance the story
back at the mountain the armies are converging for the big battle
and it begins - and it goes on - and on - and on - relentless stuff
so many ugly orcs, so many fight scenes, so many decapitations
and - so little blood - none in fact - after all this is a family show
and a reminder that it is all about the fantastic spectacle of it too
a set of scenes showing thorin and the orc leader slogging it out
the ultimate good vs bad - dwarf vs giant - or - david vs goliath?
(books will be written about the biblical overtones of these films)
they end up on a kind of skating rink with a prolongued fight scene
both of them dead at the end after some likely impressive 3d effects
the 2 main men - gandolf the wizard and bilbo the dwarf come and go
again looking more like necessary character drawcards than core players
but of course in the end the forces of good prevail over the nasty orcs
the gang of dwarves stay in their new mountain home but not bilbo
he is escorted by gandolf back to the shire and his previous life
then a final scene as an old man and a loud knock on the door
gandolf - the opening scene from lord of the rings - clever
brilliant ending - full circle - but phew - it's relief for me
done me dash on the whole hobbit thing - moving on
...and the same for everyone involved too i suspect...
