***
Having staked their claim on the
treasure hidden within the Lonely Mountain, Biblo and the Dwarves, led by an
increasingly volatile Thorin, watch on as armies of Men, Elves, Orcs, Goblins gather
outside their front door, all vying for a piece of the gold.
Sigh.
I’m not angry, I’m just
disappointed. After the mess of the second part of the trilogy, I felt sure
that Jackson would be able to redeem himself with this conclusion, but I have
been proved wrong. Where to begin? Well, how about the complete lack of plot!?
I have read some reviews of Mockingjay:
Part 1 that accuse the film of being without direction and story, but
compared to Battle of the Five Armies,
Mockingjay looks like an excellently
crafted Dickensian novel. In all honesty, the plot for the final Hobbit film can be summarised thus:
there’s a big fight. Fight scenes can be exciting, I don’t deny it, but after
you’ve seen one army smash into another, you’ve essentially seen them all, so
the repetition of multiple armies coming together becomes somewhat dull.
Having all but abandoned the
source material, Jackson and his script-writers are left to create their own
dialogue, some of which is so clunky and cringe-worthy I almost laughed out
loud. The inclusion of a brief comment by Legolas about his lost mother,
mentioned again by Thranduil come the end of the film, is clumsy and wholly
unnecessary. Even when they stick to the book, the decision was made to veer from
the original speeches and heartfelt comments and create different passages. I
looked on horrified as one of the pivotal monologues from the book was
neglected. Other things that frustrated me included the completely irrelevant
love-triangle, a wholly unremarkable score, Billy Connolly turning up on a pig,
the rather shoddy graphics, and the complete lack of hobbit. Indeed, the film should
have been called Thorin and Bard as
Bilbo features so little that I almost forgot he was in it! The majority of the
dwarves have even less to do than in the first two films, and I feel that a
little more character development could have saved the film from endless fight
scenes and last-minute saves.
So, why three stars? Well, I
cannot fully dismiss the film entirely as it isn’t a bad film, as such; it’s
just not a Hobbit film. Despite such
a plethora of problems, the film is not completely without merit: I have
enjoyed the development of the Bard (Luke Evans) character (although his story
is wholly washed over come the conclusion), and I thought the inclusion of
Sauron was well done. Freeman does his best with some truly clunky dialogue and
in truth I can see why Jackson waited for him to become available, as it is
impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. It is, however, Richard Armitage
who steals the show as Thorin; his descent into madness is interesting,
well-realised and certainly adds some extra depth to what is, essentially, a
2-hour fight sequence. Unlike the rest of the cast, Armitage is gifted with a
fairly decent script, and his character arc throughout this instalment is
definitely the most engaging aspect.
The first Hobbit film was the best out of the trilogy for me: it vaguely
resembled the book; the eponymous hobbit actually featured; and there was a
clear beginning, middle and end. Yes, it was flawed, certainly, but it still
had heart. I was moved by what was happening on screen, I felt for the
characters and I was pleased to be back in Middle Earth again. However, having
suffered through The Desolation of Smaug
and now having tolerated the final film, I feel somewhat relieved to know that
it’s all over. Just keep Jackson away from The
Silmarillion…
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