The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The final instalment is a good addition to the trilogy, but it has its flaws.

Director: Peter Jackson
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 141 minutes

We're finally there, 'The Battle of the Five Armies' is the final instalment in the prequel series to the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, and boy does it feel like a long time coming. I thought 'An Unexpected Journey' was long winded, but a good movie overall, and the follow up was an improvement. It was obvious from the start that 'The Hobbit' should never have been a trilogy, and watching this has not changed that, in many ways it has cemented it.

The film starts off where 'The Desolation of Smaug' left off. With the dragon Smaug setting aflame Lake-town, and the opening of the movie is amazing, and there is a lot of satisfaction in seeing Smaug come to his death. But it does feel like it should be at the end of a movie rather than the beginning.

From then on, the movie spends about forty five minutes building up to the final battle, as all of the different sides want to lay claim to the treasure in Erebor, that was left dormant by Smaug. We watch as Thorin (Richard Armitage) becomes paranoid and corrupted by his new power as the King, and in his search for the Arkenstone. Until he eventually redeems himself.

When the battle plays out, it is relentless, as one army after another enters to fight the Orcs. The battle is epic and thoroughly entertaining, and the final fight scenes between the main protagonists and villains is a joy to watch. However, for all its size and scope, the battle never reaches the level of greatness of the battle of Helm's Deep in 'The Two Towers' or the last battle in 'Return of the King'.

One of the reasons for this is that there was real tension in the lead up to those battles, it also helped that the Orcs were not computer generated characters, they were real people in practical make up and costumes. It made them so much more intimidating, the Orcs are now so much more disposable, as one by one they get slayed so effortlessly. There is also far too much overhead shots swooping by as the battle goes on, making the whole thing look and feel like a video game cutscene.

The cast is a positive for the film, the majority of the casting throughout the whole trilogy has been stellar, Martin Freeman has really nailed down the part of Bilbo Baggins, and Luke Evans really shines in this movie as Bard. But there is one negative, the character Alfrid (assistant to the master of Lake-town) is there for comic relief, but he just ends up being a huge distraction, it really is jarring when you consider that this is a really dark movie, for the most part.

Things get a little emotional as the movie comes to its conclusion, which is satisfyingly good, and it also links well with the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. But, I can't help but feel the Hobbit trilogy is a massive climbdown from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It might be unfair to compare the two, but they both exist in the same universe and have the same director, so I think it's fair game.

The original Lord of the Rings trilogy set the benchmark for Fantasy cinema, and it will forever be hard to live up to. But with the original trilogy, they were films intended to be more than just the sum of their parts, they weren't just blockbuster movies. In other words, they were not made just for the sake of money making. Which I do not believe is the case with 'The Hobbit' trilogy, but they have just felt kind of like by the numbers blockbuster movies, and not much else.

Verdict- 'The Battle of the Five Armies' is a pleasing conclusion, and well worth your time and money. I would rank it on equal footing as 'An Unexpected Journey', but not quite as thrilling as 'The Desolation of Smaug.

3.5/5

Sonic Generations: Review

One of the best Sonic games ever!!

I, like so many staunch Sonic the Hedgehog fans, for the most part has had to put up with in terms of quality, inconsistent games in the blue hedgehog's catalogue over the last decade or so. Some missed opportunities (Sonic 06) and some good/average games (Sonic Unleashed). Before those there was the two Adventure games, which have both dated badly since their initial releases. 

So a couple of weeks ago I came across 'Sonic Generations' (XBOX 360) for £10 in a second hand video game shop. I wasn't too sure at first, but I bought it, and I'm glad I did. For those who don't know, Generations was released in 2011 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first ever Sonic the Hedgehog release. The game kind of bypassed me when it was initially released.

There isn't much of a story, the game starts with Sonic and his friends celebrating his birthday, before a monster simply known as 'The Time Eater' appears and scatters them across different time portals. Eventually leading to two Sonic's appearing with one another, the classic, slightly chubby one from the old 16 bit days. And the new, much thinner, and sleeker modern Sonic.

In truth the story is very weak, but hey, this is a Sonic game after all, and it isn't the heart of the game.


There are nine stages in total, each of them with two acts split between the classic and modern Sonic. The stages are all remakes of Sonic stages from previous games, ranging from The Green Hill Zone in the first Sonic to Rooftop run from 'Unleashed'.

The classic Sonic's levels play in a similar vein to the old 2D Genesis games, with the combination of speed runs and platform to platform sections, but in a much more frantic way. The modern Sonic levels are by and large 3D, it plays in a similar way to the Adventures and Unleashed games, with some brief moments where it changes to 2D. Both have the trademark loop the loop sections.

They progressively get more challenging the further you advance, but by and large they are all very fun, and like the classic games, you'll be returning to them over and over, they never get boring. My personal favourite is City Escape, which was taken from 'Sonic Adventure 2'. The soundtrack, the San Francisco setting, the stampede truck, it is without doubt my favourite level in the entire franchise. You simply have to play it to really understand how great it is.

I personally prefer the classic Sonic gameplay, not only does it require a little more skill, but it perfectly encapsulates the best memories of Sonic so perfectly. The environments can also be taken in more, and it's the environments in the game that are truly breathtaking, and some of the best I have ever seen. The colour palette is strikingly colourful and very cartoony, this is what a Sonic game should have always looked like. The stages are also packed full of breakable objects and power up items, everything feels so alive and busy.

Sonic games have always been known for their excellent music, and Generations doesn't disappoint, for example, reliving the theme from Green Hill Zone will bring tingles down your spine. Sonic controls well, even when you play as modern Sonic in the 3D stages, on the whole it's easy to control the character. Playing the classic Sonic stages can be jarring at first, with the screen so colourful and busy at times, it can be hard to adjust when to jump at certain points, and it can also be hard to see enemies on screen. But these are only minor negatives that you'll overcome.

Other slight negatives are the stages themselves, the latter three stages are a mixed bag, partly because they are remastered from the most recent Sonic games, which were not all very good. Considering that this is essentially a greatest hits game, I was surprised at some of the stages picked for the game, largelbecause so many of them are urban/city themed. Take Crisis City from 'Sonic 06', which I never played but is regarded as one of the worst ever in the spiky hedgehog's catalogue, surely they could have diversified it a little.


Overall the game is relatively easy, it's only the last couple of stages that will leave you losing consecutive lives at once. The main game is also pretty short, but there is plenty of replay value, the stages are fun so you'll want to re-play them many times over. As well as that, once you've completed the two acts of each stage, challenge portals are opened up where you have to do different tasks within the stage (such as completing the level in a certain amount of time, collecting a certain amount of rings, etc).

It's easy to forget that platform games were usually THE marquee games back in the day. Outside of Mario and Sonic, they're few and far between now. Not only is 'Sonic Generations' a reminder of the blue hedgehog's golden days, but also a reminder of how much fun video games should be, and what platform games ought to be.

If you're a Sonic fan and like me, this game bypassed you when it was originally released, then this is an essential purchase. If you love video games which are just fun and easy to pick up and play, then 'Generations is for you'.

Verdict- 8.5/10