Just as some may be saying goodbye to visiting relatives this holiday season, many others bid farewell to Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit whom you might say has overstayed his welcome. After 13 years of J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired films, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies gave us a somewhat disappointing conclusion to the three-part book adaptation.
On Christmas day, The Hobbit fell short of taking the gold in the domestic box office, making $13.14 million. Comparatively, Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken brought in a whopping $15.59 million and close behind, the star-loaded fairy tale Into the Woods came out with $15.08 million.
While there were moments that sparked investment in characters, the film left few trails of the personal growth and actual plot that is so crucial to the success of the books. Often, storyline was overshadowed by a war engulfed in CGI and bodies piled on more bodies, frequently reminiscent of a video game.
Themes of greed and friendship and the frequent intertwining of these two premises are what draw us into these films. We see it in Thorin Oakenshield’s desire to claim the mountain’s treasure for himself and in Bilbo’s eventual dependence on the ring. We also glimpse moments of love (often when death precedes) and sacrifice. These moments are what save the film from becoming a violent failure.
The stretch of The Hobbit may have been unnecessary and smells a bit like the stench of a franchise, but nonetheless gave us enough to be content with. The 320-page tale came to a close with the same fondness of Bilbo Baggins and his magical journey we had from the very start.