PETER JACKSON's overblown Hobbit trilogy of films
reaches its climax in cinemas today with The Hobbit: The Battle
of Five Armies (Cert. 12A).
J. R. R. Tolkien's mythological story was first published in
1937, before The Lord of the Rings (1954-55). Depending on
which edition you read, The Hobbit, including appendices,
takes under 400 pages to tell its story. The three films add up to
nearly eight hours.
If you're short of time, then DVDs, working an extra frame per
second, will be a quicker watch. Call me cynical, but haven't
Warner Brothers thought why make money once when you can do so
thrice? After all, it worked for the Lord of the Rings
cycle. Yes, but there were three books (each longer than the sole
Hobbit tale) to draw on.
This instalment was originally to be called There and Back
Again (Tolkien's alternative title to the book), which would
have been more apt, given how strong a sense of déjà vu
the film gives off. Like the poor, the demon dragon Smaug (voiced
by Benedict Cumberbatch) is always with us, threatening to rampage
and destroy Middle-earth. Something must be done. A few battles
later, it is accomplished with the aid of five scriptwriters, the
director's undoubted creative skills, and omnipresent CGI. The
journey of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) finally
reaches its conclusion. We are not left intrigued and dangling as
we were after the second episode.
The route that this film takes to concluding the story is a
sombre one, the visuals reflecting its emotional tones. Ralph, at
the end of William Golding's Lord of the Flies "wept for
the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart". Perhaps some
who see this new film will do likewise; for it's the overlong and
repetitious battle scenes that draw attention to humanity's
unremitting inability to settle its differences amicably. The film
picks up on Tolkien's ravaged First World War experiences.
Militarism will never bring salvation. As the film asserts,
"There's a more important thing to be fighting rather than one
another." And that is, defeating our own covetousness and
self-aggrandisement.
We are given such instances of Tolkien's profound faith
throughout the picture. These often are articulated by Gandalf the
Wizard. Ian McKellen deliberately voiced the part in the manner of
the author himself. Custodianship of the ring has been given to a
most unlikely person, Baggins, empowering him to be saviour of
Middle-earth. He shows pity where others would have chosen
might.
Baggins has soared above the moral backwardness of the dwarves
and others with whom he has kept company. He may now return to his
beloved home set in a green and pleasant land, sadder and wiser;
but that's the price any of us pay for personal spiritual growth.
But what feels strangely at odds with Hobbit 3's summative
mantra, "Even the smallest person can change the course of the
future," is the sheer scale of this monster of a movie - the sixth
about the ring. It's time to move on to less ambitious projects, Mr
Jackson.