Movie Review: "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" (2014)

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Movie: "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"
Director: Peter Jackson
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 24 minutes

After Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Thorin (Richard Armitage), and the dwarves awaken Smaug from his long sleep, Smaug is ready to unleash his fury on the people of Laketown. He delivers a continuous wrath of fire and destruction until Bard (Luke Evans) is able to succeed where his ancestor failed and slay Smaug. With Smaug dead, Thorin is able to take his rightful place as king of Erebor. With his treasure in hand, the extreme wealth of The Lonely Mountain, as well as the search for the Arkenstone have started to drive Thorin mad. When Bard seeks payment from Thorin for his promise to help rebuild Laketown, he is turned away as Thorin is not willing to give up even one single coin. To make matters worse, Thranduil (Lee Pace) has led an army of elves to stake a claim in the recovered fortune. Despite his best efforts for a peaceful resolution, Bard has gathered an army of men to take the payment they were promised. On top of that, Thorin's cousin Dain (Billy Connelly) has brought his army of Dwarves to defend Thorin and Erebor. But, when Azog (Manu Benett) and his army of orcs and trolls attack, the other armies must band together to defeat Azog and his horde.

KILIFILI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is this truly the end for Middle Earth? Probably, and we'd be lying if we said we didn't cry a bit when all was said and done. "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" will probably not be anyone's favorite movie related to "The Lord of the Rings." Hell, it probably won't be anyone's favorite movie period, but damn if it's not a worthy conclusion to this trilogy. While the same problems that have plagued the series since "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" are still here in this third movie (for example, poorly done CGI, using CGI over prosthetic pieces, condensing scenes here and adding details there), BigJ and I think that this was our favorite movie in "The Hobbit" series. As one might expect, all of the "good stuff" was in this final film, and from start to finish, even as the movie opens with Smaug disintegrating Laketown, you know you're going to be in for one hell of a ride. The action never stops for a moment to catch its breath. Between Smaug and the Five Armies descending upon The Lonely Mountain, their battles are impressive and grandiose. There are even some scenes that might be considered frightening to kids under 13, so parents, be aware of that. What we like that is added in "The Battle of the Five Armies" is something that is seemingly missing from the LotR movies altogether, and that is heart. Let's face it, Frodo was sort of annoying. What "The Hobbit" has that LotR lacks can all be attributed to Martin Freeman, who we must reiterate was the greatest, bestest choice for Bilbo Baggins. His end scenes made us totally cry and gave us the feels. While the laughs and touching moments are brought by his character, the person who really stood out in this final film was Thorin, played by Richard Armitage. Here, we finally see Aritage immersed so deeply into the role of Thorin as his obsession with gold and money and power and "dragon sickness" have gone to his head in a sickening and mood-altering manner. Gone are the days when Thorin was just serious, now he's serious and downright crazy. He is not willing to part with one single coin and it drives him mad. All of the actors found in the first two "Hobbit" movie reprise their roles with the addition of Billy Connelly and all of them do so well and wonderfully.

When all is said and done, sure, some things are left out, some characters were introduced and never appear again, the movie might feel a little truncated to some but overly long to others, yet we loved this film for what it was and are sad to see the series end. No one should have to read a book to understand the characters in a movie. If the movie isn't clear enough, filmmakers and directors haven't done their job properly and have failed in not just the character development aspect, but the storytelling aspect as well. We believe this movie links the two series together nicely as we marathoned both of them back to back, and what an undertaking that was! "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" won't win any Oscars, but it's still a decent movie. Though it is not the best movie of the year, it was certainly one of the better movies of 2014. Contrary to others, we were so looking forward to this movie and it didn't disappoint us in the slightest.

My Rating: 10/10
BigJ's Rating: 10/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 60%
Do we recommend this movie: ABSOLUTELY YES!!!
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To see our review of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," click here.

To see our review of "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," click here.

Movie Review: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012)

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Movie: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Director: Peter Jackson
Year: 2012
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 49 minutes

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) enjoys his home life in The Shire in his cozy Hobbit hole. When the Wizard Gandalf the Gray (Ian McKellen) shows up unexpectedly, Bilbo's life is about to change forever. That evening, Bilbo gets some more unexpected visitors in the form of 13 Dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), heir to the throne of Erebor. Gandalf has suggested that Bilbo work as a thief for Thorin in order to steal the Arkenstone from the Dragon Smaug, who has taken over Erebor. Reluctant at first, Bilbo is eventually convinced and sets out for the adventure of a lifetime on the perilous road to The Lonely Mountain. 

With this first film of three in the beginning saga of Middle Earth (which should have been a two-parter at most, in our opinion), Peter Jackson is at the helm once again to bring us only one third of a story in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," which is adapted from the book and the horribly creepy animated film that still gives me nightmares to this day. Martin Freeman stars are a young Bilbo Baggins and proves he was the ideal and perfect casting choice to play this role. His slightly sarcastic demeanor, quick wit and striking facial resemblance to Ian Holm are just a few of the many reasons why Freeman kills is a Bilbo. We couldn't see this part going to anyone else with the same impact that Freeman had on the movie. Ian McKellan reprises his role as Gandalf and is always fantastic. He hasn't lost a beat since the original trilogy. Newcomer Richard Armitage really helps bring Thorin Oakenshield to life in all his angsty, brooding, dwarfy glory. His facial expressions range from stone-cold serious to deep-in-thought stoic and it had to be hard for him to very rarely ever smile in this movie. Each individual dwarf has a specific uniqueness about them, and together, they all form a weird, mismatched, zany but fun-loving clan and family. The story itself is a grand one and everything that a life changing journey should be. To us, changes to this story don't matter as long as it is well executed on film and manages to remain entertaining. Also, "The Song of The Lonely Mountain" is spectacular, as is the entire score for this film.

It's easy to knock this movie down a couple pegs when it gets compared to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but realistically, any movie would get knocked down a couple of pegs when compared to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. To us, this original series is one of the apexes in not just film making, but in storytelling, too. Just because "The Hobbit" does not meet that very, very, very high bar of greatness does not diminish this movie as also being great and fun. Many casual "Lord of the Rings" fans and critics have been and may continue to be disappointed with this new set of "Hobbit" movies because of Jackson's favoring of CGI over practical effects, which is part of why "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy is so spectacular and magical. Some of the CGI aspects are well executed, while others, like Azog the Defiler, fall completely short and look hokey. We have seen what Jackson's original prosthetics looked like, and because of his choice to film this movie in a higher frame rate, the prosthetics were largely dropped by the wayside. We would have loved to see it done the other way around where Jackson favored practical effects over everything else. A lot of fans of the book have complained about Jackson's expansion of the story and re-imagining of some details, as well as the addition of new characters, but we happen to like many of these changes as "The Hobbit" film is not simply an adaptation of the book, but a full prequel to "The Lord of the Rings." These many additions help completely tie "The Hobbit" into the older trilogy where previously their only connection would have lied with the Precious. That being said, this movie is quite long and didn't need to be. As we mentioned above, this trilogy could have easily been split into two parts as was originally intended Peter Jackson. At the behest of the studios involved, Jackson was forced to expand it into a trilogy, a little to its detriment. Despite all of this, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" still manages to be a fun beginning to Bilbo and the dwarves' journey to The Lonely Mountain.

My Rating: 10/10
BigJ's Rating: 10/10
IMDB's Rating: 8.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 64%
Do we recommend this movie: ABSOLUTELY YES!!!
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To see our review of "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," click here.

To see our review of "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," click here.

Movie Review: "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014)

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Movie: "X-Men: Days of Future Past"
Director: Bryan Singer
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 11 minutes

In the near future, Mutants are almost extinct. All Mutants, as well as any human who may carry the mutant gene, are being hunted down and rounded up by robots known as Sentinels. These Sentinels have the unique ability to change and adapt, which makes them virtually indestructible. They have discovered Mystique’s (Jennifer Lawrence) DNA is the key to developing these machines, and her past actions were the motivation for creating them. Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) devise a plan for Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) to project Wolverine’s (Hugh Jackman) consciousness into his younger self in order to change the past. Wolverine must find younger past Professor X (James McAvoy) and younger past Magneto (Michael Fassbender) so together, they can help convince Mystique not to carry out the actions that will eventually lead to the doom of the entire mutant race.  

This is the best X-Men movie in a long time. Its cool yet convoluted plot completely erases the stink-bomb known as "X-Men: The Last Stand" and does so with open arms. The whole concept of the movie is really interesting and filmmaker Bryan Singer manages to pull off the time jump/time travel in this film expertly, in our opinions. The X-Men movies are also always able to bring up not just historical parallels, but social issues that still plague our society today. Humans always fear what the don't understand, and it seems that consistently through each X-Men movie past and present, this is a recurring theme, which only adds to our enjoyment.

Let's face it: Jennifer Lawrence is America's (current) Sweetheart. Whether the central focus on Mystique in this movie had to do with this fact, we may never know, but we have a hunch that's why. This is not to knock to the film, it's just merely an observation. Jennifer Lawrence does a good job as Mystique/Raven and we've never found ourselves tiring of her character. James McAvoy plays disillusioned and disheveled really well in his reprisal as Professor X. Michael Fassbender is fantastic as Magneto and plays stone-faced villains extremely well. We also really enjoyed the introduction of Quicksilver (Even Peters). He adds a lot of much-needed humor and has a great film-stealing scene at the prison (you'll know what we mean if you have seen the movie). Hugh Jackman is dazzling, as always, as Wolverine, and a treat to watch with his shirt off to men and women everywhere. Along with some old X-Men cameos, there are also a lot of new characters in bit roles that pop up here and there. Despite their small roles, they do get to display their individual powers, which may help to satisfy your inner geek.

Overall, we were extremely impressed and left wanting more. We are very much looking forward to "X-Men: Apocalypse" in 2016.

My Rating: 8/10
BigJ's Rating: 8/10
IMDB's Rating: 8.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!!
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To see our review of "X-Men," click here.

To see our review of "X2: X-Men United," click here.

To see our review of "X-Men: The Last Stand," click here.

To see our review of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," click here.

To see our review of "X-Men: First Class," click here.

To see our review of "The Wolverine," click here.

Movie Review: "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" (2013)

Movie: "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
Director: Peter Jackson
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 41 minutes

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Bilbo (Martin Freeman), the Dwarves and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) continue their quest to reclaim the dwarves' homeland of Erebor from the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). They must also obtain the Arkenstone, which gives Thorin (Richard Armitage) his rightful place as king. They must travel through Mirkwood forest, home of the Wood Elves, all while bring pursued by a pack of Orcs. Even when they reach their final destination, they will face their most dangerous task: Smaug himself.

Can we just all agree to have Benedict Cumberbatch voice everything and everyone for the rest of eternity??? :)

MINUS ONE ENTIRE POINT FOR THE SCENE WITH THE GIGANTIC SPIDERS THAT NOW CURRENTLY HAUNT MY DREAMS.

This is another great installment of "The Hobbit" trilogy! It seems the action has been kicked up a notch in this second installment, and yet a lot of "walking" still remains. As with the previous films, Middle Earth looks amazing, and the digital effects cannot be beat. The Wood Elves make their first appearance in this movie, including Legolas (Orlando Bloom), who does not appear in the book, and as added as an addition tie-in with the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The fighting sequence between the Wood Elves and the Orcs and and the Dwarves was bad ass! Luke Evan does a great job as Bard of Lake-town and plays the voice of reason in a town willing to face the wrath of Smaug the dragon for the gold in the mountain. And, he's not too hard to look at, either. ;)

Now, can we talk about Smaug?!?! WOW! He was AWESOME!! He visually looked stellar, and Cumberbatch has that perfect, deep and sinister voice for a dragon/bad guy/anything ever. The entire scene with Bilbo and Smaug was tense and had such great dialogue between the two characters. Gold Smaug was even more awesome and fabulous...watch the movie and you'll see what we mean. #Flawless

The ending.....well, you'll see it coming, but it's still annoying when a movie just cuts to black. With "The Hobbit" movies, they are more of a theatrical mini-series as opposed to 3 separate films, since they are obviously all derived from the same book. But, instead of waiting one week or a couple of weeks like a cliffhanger on a television show, WE HAVE TO WAIT A WHOLE GODDAMN YEAR (OR MORE) FOR ANY SORT OF RESOLUTION and that is awful for someone like me with no patience.

Overall, a great installment, can't wait for the final movie!

Plus, Ed Sheeran sings the theme song to this movie. POINTS!

My Rating: 9/10
BigJ's Rating: 10/10
IMDB's Rating: 8.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 75%
Do we recommend this movie: ABSOLUTELY YES!!!
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To see our review of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," click here.

To see our review of "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," click here.