The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies

                  All good things must come to an end. And sadly, this is the end of the Middle Earth Saga that so many have followed and stayed true to. As it says in the trailer, The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies is the defining chapter to everything concerning the One Ring of Power. Now as viewers, we are able to literally see how this all intertwines with the Lord of the Rings Trilogy that came out almost fourteen years ago. We get to see it Peter Jackson style. 

THE HOBBIT:

THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES

                  The final chapter in the Hobbit trilogy begins just where it left off, so you'll want to see The Desolation of Smaug so that you know exactly what's going on. Maybe if you can, you should see An Unexpected Journey as well. 

                  Smaug swoops over Laketown and begins laying waste to it. He burns building after building, killing people in the process. Tauriel is still with the dwarves after reviving Kili, and they begin to make their escape from Laketown. 

                  At the same time, the Master of Laketown is evacuating himself, trying to save all of his treasure and his skin. For the most part, he packs a whole bunch of wine. But, just like any old ruler that nobody likes, the Master is killed by Smaug, after Smaug himself is killed by Bard. 

                  Bard has escaped from his cell prior to the Master's self-evacuation. Actually, in the process of his trying to escape, the Master unknowingly assists Bard. So Bard gathers a bow and a quiver of arrows to smite down the beast that his ancestor could not. He climbs to a high tower, coincidentally an archer tower that is in the very heart of Laketown. 

                  It is here that Bard attempts to kill the dragon. He uses all of his arrows and is down to his last one. He once again fails to pierce the dragon's hide, and fails to pierce the one place his hide was pierced before. As his children are escaping from their burning home, Bard's son sees his father firing wildly at the dragon and they just happen to pass the place where he hid the Black Arrow. 

                  The son then gets up from the boat and runs to grab the Black Arrow. He then runs up and meets his father in the archer tower. Bard tells his son, "You should not be here! Go! Leave!" His son replies that he wanted to help. The tower is swept over by Smaug, and it is all but destroyed. The tower is in terrible condition, and Bard's bow is demolished. He uses his son as a makeshift cross-bow to finally hit Smaug where his hide was weak, therefore killing the dragon.

                  And that's when Smaug falls on top of the Master of Laketown, inevitably killing him. 

                  The dwarves and Bilbo watch from the Lonely Mountain and see Smaug fall. They happily say to each other, "Smaug is dead." Hooray, right? Nope. Thorin keeps his dwarf brothers inside the treasure hoard and makes them search for the Arkenstone. 

                  The remaining company of dwarves that escaped Laketown make their way to the Lonely Mountain. Tauriel travels with them until Legolas catches up with her. Tauriel and Kili say farewell to each other, and Kili gives Tauriel his lucky rock to remember him by. 

                  Tauriel and Legolas go to an ancient fortress where the Uruk-hai and Orcs are gathering to march on the Lonely Mountain. And it does not look good. 

                  Gandalf, let's focus on our good ol' Gandalf. He is still stuck in Dol Guldur when Galadriel decides to lend a hand. Alongside her comes Elrond of Rivendell (LOTR!!!) and Saruman, at the time, a good white wizard. The three of them fight the Necromancer and his nine wraiths in an epic clashing of good and evil. Gandalf is saved and Sauron is thrust back to Mordor by Galadriel. This is where the videogame, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor would take place. 

                  Then the movie jumps straight into the Battle of the Five Armies; Orcs, Dwarves, Elves, Men, and goblins. It is a gruesome and violent battle, one that I will elaborate in my parent edition of this movie. Until then, here is my overall rating.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Armies (9 out of 10) Accuracy to the book overall very good. Some things such as Azog the Defiler and Tauriel the She-Elf are inaccurate to the original text. The battle portrayed very well.

Family Friendliness: 3 out of 10 Very violent, much beheading. Some images may not be appropriate for the young child's eye. Suggested age to see- 13+. If you're a little bit more leniant, 12+. But I would not recommend showing to 10 or 11 year olds. It is very violent, there is a lot of stabbing.

Re-watch Probability: Very high

Bibliography: "Hobbit 3" <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzQx-FZLVSmnAB2wPteQ9hagHpPf0b46P2a17vz8BaqDzJ7lLqWtzivP68LMvlQfgqMp6X_IvQQe5hcz7uWjRZklv_MYmfOsHJEo2apwPyFtLcFqU00WS-lwhiLL7KQ5ieqDsEA_r8IEb/s1600/hobbit_the_battle_of_the_five_armies_bilbo_poster.jpg>
                          "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Smaug" <http://www.empireonline.com/images/uploaded/empire-magazine-smaug-the-dragon-hobbit-battle-of-the-five-armies.jpg>
                          "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Gandalf and Galadriel" <http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/37700000/The-Hobbit-The-Battle-Of-The-Five-Armies-Gandalf-and-Galadriel-Poster-the-hobbit-37700172-703-1024.jpg>