---
title: "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies"
critics_score: 60
critics_reviews: 23
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014): what the critics said

Critics' score 60 from 23 reviews: 11 positive, 5 mixed, 7 negative.

Most critics come down in favour, though not by much: positive reviews outnumber negative ones, with a sizeable group in between. The praise gathers around the battle itself. The reviews call it inventive, varied and convincing, a skirmish from the book turned into the best part of an hour of tactics and carnage. Thorin’s descent into greed is picked out as the most interesting thread, Martin Freeman’s Bilbo is admired even by those who dislike the film, and several reviews find the closing scenes unexpectedly restrained.

The reservations cluster on what the fighting crowds out. Detractors find the film bloated, heavy on digital armies and light on feeling, with Bilbo pushed to the edge of his own story. The spread is wide, running from five-star raves to dismissals. Vulture argues Jackson has lost his soul to spectacle, /Film calls it the weakest of the three, and Sight and Sound admits to no interest in the adaptations at all.

## Total Film

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 December 2014. 

Jackson turns a footnote skirmish into an endlessly inventive battle full of tactics and variety while punctuating carnage with gags and tenderness. The ending provides a restrained, perfectly pitched farewell to Middle-earth.

[Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/hobbit-battle-five-armies-review/)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 December 2014. 

Jackson’s pumped-up final hobbit movie really works: it’s exciting, spectacular, genial and rousing. It makes do with one ending.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/11/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-review-packs-a-punch)

## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 December 2014. 

The critic finds the final film the most purely entertaining of the Hobbit series, praising its action-packed war sequences and the warm, amiable mood of the finale. They single out the combat choreography and character resolutions for praise.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/hobbit-battle-five-armies-film-752865/)

## The Times — Kate Muir

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 2 December 2014. 

The film goes out with a 45-minute baroque, virtuoso battle scene that could be an entire tragi-comic film in itself, with breathing space for personal drama and humour.

[Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-5zwls97q7n3)

## Empire — James Dyer

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 December 2014. 

The film transforms Tolkien's brief battle into a thunderous, inventive melee that concludes Jackson's Middle-earth saga fittingly. The critic praises the physicality of the combat, Thorin's arc and the restrained ending but notes some set-pieces feel truncated.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/hobbit-battle-five-armies-review/)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 December 2014. 

Robustly entertaining, occasionally affecting and sometimes thrilling, very much of a piece with the first two Hobbit films though not groundbreaking. It showcases Jackson's skill for large-scale action scenes but doesn't stir the soul as much as it rocks the senses.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies/5080510.article)

## Slant Magazine

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 December 2014. 

The critic highlights the film's strengths in dynamic action sequences and depictions of platonic male friendship, while noting issues with the romantic subplot and the overall sense of it being table-setting for prior films.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies/)

## Variety — Scott Foundas

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 December 2014. 

The critic calls it the trilogy’s most engrossing and expeditious episode, with a rousing battle and emotional payoffs, though only for fans.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-1201367492/)

## Time Out — Tom Huddleston

Rating 3/5. 1 December 2014. 

More of Jackson's proven formula of battles and elaborate action set pieces, enjoyable if you've liked the previous films but lacking in honest emotion. The hour-long climactic smackdown is one of the grandest sequences he's shot and a fitting tribute to his ambition.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies)

## The AV Club — A.A. Dowd

Rating C. 16 December 2014. 

The review criticizes the film as a plodding finish to the trilogy, with excessive padding and reliance on CGI spectacle over substance. It praises Martin Freeman's performance as Bilbo but notes the marginalization of the protagonist.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-battle-of-the-five-armies-brings-the-hobbit-trilogy-1798182221)

## Los Angeles Times — Betsy Sharkey

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 16 December 2014. 

The critic says five armies are too many and the spectacle overwhelms, though Thorin’s internal battle is the film’s most interesting fight and it satisfies fans while wrapping up loose ends.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-hobbit-battle-five-armies-review-20141217-column.html)

## RogerEbert.com

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 16 December 2014. 

The critic praises the battle sequence and attention to detail but notes the film feels like a drawn-out conclusion rather than a vibrant standalone, with the story centering on greed and dragon-sickness.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-2014)

## Evening Standard — David Sexton

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 12 December 2014. 

The film is essentially one long battle scene after a lively dragon prelude, with monotonous fighting and excessive CGI. The critic finds the hair, beards and overall spectacle wearying and notes it offers more of the same for fans.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-film-review-9919962.html)

## The New York Times — Nicolas Rapold

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 17 December 2014. 

The critic finds the film vexing, with Bilbo sidelined in favor of destruction and war, and criticizes the emphasis on greed overriding reason and friendship.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/movies/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies.html)

## Sight and Sound — Henry K. Miller

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 11 December 2014. 

The critic declares a lack of interest in the Tolkien adaptations and finds the film uninvolving, with quasi-robotic characters in a simplistic good-vs-evil struggle. A match-cut linking Bilbo's return home to the earlier trilogy stands out as the most moving moment.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/review-hobbit-battle-five-armies)

## Vulture

Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 17 December 2014. 

The critic argues the film proves Peter Jackson has lost his soul, calling it a bloated mess of inconsequential spectacle that fails to engage with characters or the pointlessness of war.

[Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2014/12/movie-review-the-hobbit-battle-of-the-five-armies.html)

## HeyUGuys — Jon Lyus

Rating 5/5. 1 December 2014. 

The critic calls it a triumphant if flawed end to the saga, a solid and stirring conclusion with hidden emotional force, spectacular battle scenes and strong central performances.

[Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/hobbit-battle-five-armies-review/)

## Deadline — Pete Hammond

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 17 December 2014. 

The critic calls it an action-filled and excellent end to Peter Jackson's journey with the Tolkien tales. It highlights the returning cast and the director's long involvement with the material.

[Read the review](https://deadline.com/2014/12/hobbit-review-battle-of-the-five-armies-review-peter-jackson-1201328502/)

## Den of Geek — Duncan Bowles

Rating 4/5. 1 December 2014. 

The film is a satisfying ending to the saga and a strong final chapter, ending on a high note with emotional force that matches its visual power. The critic singles out the emotional depth in character relationships, particularly the Tauriel triangle and Thorin’s arc.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-review-2/)

## Eye for Film — Owen Van Spall

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 8 December 2014. 

The critic sees a thrilling yet exhausting spectacle of carnage that smothers the cast and character interaction, though it showcases impressive technical prowess and some strong performances from Freeman, Armitage and McKellen.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-2014-film-review-by-owen-van-spall)

## /Film — Germain Lussier

Rating 4/10. 17 December 2014. 

The critic finds it the worst of the Hobbit films: a two-hour string of big action moments without emotional weight, character development or a real arc, feeling like an overstretched final act.

[Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/535190/hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-review/)

## Collider — Matt Goldberg

Rating D. 16 December 2014. 

The critic finds the film a disappointing conclusion to the trilogy, filled with hollow spectacle, poor characterization, and CGI battles that lack emotional stakes, with Bilbo as the sole saving grace.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-review/)

## The Wrap

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 December 2014. 

The critic finds the film lumbering and overstuffed, proving Christopher Tolkien right with its excessive battle scenes, sloppy resolutions, and fan service. Visual details like character designs receive praise amid the overall bloat and lack of emotional resonance.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-review-martin-freeman-ian-mckellen-cate-blanchett/)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies.md