The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies review

So here we are – the final instalment of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy (that is, of course, the prequel to his other Middle Earth trilogy, the Lord Of The Rings movies). Dragon Smaug is on the rampage, our heroes are scattered and the adventure begins straight away as Smaug quickly gets his comeuppance – after all the build up, he’s dispatched pretty darn fast – and a battle is set in motion with elves and dwarves reluctantly united to get rid of the nasty orcs.

There is a little plot to get through before the climactic battle, as dwarf Thorin (Armitage, stealing the film with his mesmerising performance) descends into despotic madness at Erebor, isolating himself from his friends and raging at poor Bilbo, but it is the battle scenes that go some way to explain why Jackson needed three films to tell Tolkein’s story. With red-headed dwarf Dain (Billy Connolly) joining the scrum, elf Thranduil (Lee Pace) majestic on an elk and assorted dwarves and elves slashing and bashing their way through the chaos, it’s a stunning, gruesome set piece and a fitting finale to the adventure.

While there are some plot strands from the novel that aren’t included, the rousing battle, tragic turns and final moments, which allude to the upcoming adventures in The Lord Of The Rings, all add up to make this an enjoyable conclusion to the story. And as the end credits roll, you’ll feel sad that this is the last journey we all get to take with Peter Jackson to Middle Earth.