Lore purists will find The Battle of the Five Armies the hardest to stomach because Peter Jackson really does indulge his penchant for narrative simplification, restructuring events and the fetishization of weapons, armour and fantasy combat. Again the screenplay feels the need to reference and link to future events featured in The Lord of the Rings. The film does resolve the major storylines, yet it does feel both a little rushed and contrived. In the meantime Azog then springs his trap and lays siege to Erebor and all camped outside, resulting in the battle between Dwarves, Elves, Men and Orcs. He summons his cousin Dain from the Iron Hills to provide reinforcements. However, Thorin refuses to help which leads to a diplomatic impasse. The men of Lake Town hold the Dwarves accountable for their current situation and the Elves who harbour a longstanding grudge regarding outstanding debts that the Dwarves have not paid. The survivors of Esgaroth are aided by the Wood Elves and both parties subsequently seek restitution from the Dwarves. Smaug is killed by Bard but his body falls on Lake Town leaving it in utter ruin. It comes promptly at the start of The Battle of the Five Armies and although spectacular, it quickly negates a major plot element. Perhaps the biggest issue being the demise of Smaug. It can be cogently argued that it somewhat diminishes the impact of some of them. Despite the more economical running time, events occur very rapidly. After the somewhat languid pace of the first movie and the bloated excess of the second, this further change of pace seems somewhat perplexing. Even the extended edition which adds a further 20 minutes to the running time, increasing it to 164 minutes, is mainly driven by one ongoing action sequence which is the titular battle. The Battle of the Five Armies is noticeably shorter than it's two predecessors, mainly because there is insufficient narrative to sustain the proceedings. To celebrate this occasion, I shall post new reviews of the extended edition of all three films, as well as those of The Hobbit trilogy, which were made a decade later. Tolkien’s iconic novel, The Lord of the Rings. This December marks the 20th anniversary of the release of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first instalment of Peter Jacksons' adaptation of J.R.R.
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