Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Luke Evans, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Evangheline Lilly, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee and the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch
Director: Peter Jackson
This chapter of Oscar winner Peter Jackson’s six-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth saga comes to an epic conclusion with a “defining moment”. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit, or There and Back Againas a bedtime story for his children that in his own words “grew in the telling”.
The Lord of the Rings was written over a period of about 14 years which started by him sending his children bits and pieces of the story in his letters. So magnificent is Tolkien’s canvas, Jackson decided to carve Tolkien’s fantasy masterpiece into a prequel trilogy. Like the preceding chapters, this one too stresses themes of courage and bravery in the battle between evil and good.
Like “The Lord of the Rings”, The Hobbit is also a fundamentally Catholic work, which absorbs the religious into the story. Tolkien weaved his personal experiences into his writings. The people of Laketown were inspired by his own mother, who was worn out by poverty and disease, in the effort to hand on to her children, the Faith.
Although by no means an apologist like his friend C S Lewis, Tolkien was that most Catholic of writers, and his novel is saturated with themes and creatures inspired by the Bible. To cite just one example the dragon Smaug who is despatched in a thrilling, heart stopping encounter by a single arrow.
Having reclaimed the lost Dwarf Kingdom Erebor and a vast hoard of gold from Smaug (Cumberbatch), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) sacrifices honour and integrity for greed and his quest for the Arkenstone, disregarding Bard’s (Evans) and others appeals for their share of the treasure and Bilbo’s (Martin Freeman) wise exhortations. Soon, unseen by all but the Christ-like Wizard Gandalf (McKellen) the Orcs attack the Lonely Mountain. The fate of Middle Earth hangs in the balance, as the races of Men, Elves and Dwarves make life and death choices.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is spectacular and awesome. Tolkien would have approved.
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