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Note: This review originally ran on December 9. We’ve republished now that The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is in theaters.

Every time Peter Jackson returns to Middle Earth, we expect something special. All of his Lord of the Rings films got Best Picture nominations and while The Hobbit films haven’t lived up to the achievement of the first three movies, they’ve had their moments. In my reviews of An Unexpected Journey, and The Desolation of Smaug I found things to like about each film, despite their flaws.

So, following the trajectory of the first trilogy, I hoped The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies would be the best of the bunch. Imagine my disappointment to find out it was the opposite. Below, read our Hobbit The Battle of the Five Armies review.

Here are the reasons why The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the worst Peter Jackson Hobbit movie.

Return of the King vs. Battle of the Five Armies

When Peter Jackson last concluded a trilogy, he made one of the best films of all time. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a masterpiece. It’s a film I’ll watch and get emotional about any time it’s on. That’s because not only does it work as a fantastic cap on a great story, it works perfectly as its own story. There’s a beginning, a middle and, a few, ends. All of the big action and emotional beats are earned within the movie you’re watching. The fact you have two movies with these characters before hand only bolsters that fact. A character like Aragorn or Frodo is a different person not only from the beginning of the trilogy to the end, they’re a different person from the beginning of the one movie to the end of that movie. The way the film stands on its own, even more so than the previous two films, is what makes it so special.

I say all of this because The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies does none of that. It fails by doing exactly what it’s supposed to do – being the third act of a story. The film is 144 minutes of almost non-stop action with no real arc. It has some dazzling excitement but it fails to resonate because it all lacks emotional weight. It’s as if Jackson took what should have been the final 30 minutes of his movie and stretched it by two hours. What you’re left with is a very beautiful, suitably exciting film that feels completely empty.

The First Two Films Are Essential Components

Make no mistake, if you haven’t seen the last two Hobbit movies, The Battle of the Five Armies is not for you. The film quite literally picks up as that one ended, with the dragon Smaug attacking Lake Town. There is no prologue or training wheels to get you back into the movie. It just starts, and this event, which many consider the climatic moment of the book The Hobbit, ends before the title of the film comes up.

Big, Jaw-Dropping Moments Cancel Each Other Out

Once that’s done, Jackson moves all his chess pieces to their places on the board, and they just go at it. You know those iconic, unforgettable action moments in Return of the King? The Rohan storm Pelennor Fields; Eowyn kills the Witch King; Aragon arrives at Gondor with a ghost army? Those are great moments that give goosebumps. Well, The Battle of the Five Armies is basically a two hour string of those. Moment after moment of incredible feats of battle that eventually lose their “wow” because they’re all stacked up against each other. When we saw Legolas take down an elephant in Return of the King, it was amazing because we’d never see him do anything quite like that. In this movie, he’s got at least five moments on par with that feat.

Little Character Development

Those moments would be okay if they helped progress the characters in any way. They don’t. Very little in The Battle of the Five Armies does anything to develop any character from where they were at the end of the last film. By far the most dynamic is Thorin (Richard Armitage) because, at the start of the film, he’s got “Dragon sickness,” which means he’s been driven mad by gold, much like his Grandfather in the prologue of the first film. It’s not a huge spoiler to say he gets over it, and that change (which is done in a weird, hallucinatory way) is the most broad character growth in the entire film.

Continue Reading Why The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Is the Worst Peter Jackson Hobbit Movie

The post Why ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ Is the Worst Peter Jackson Hobbit Movie [Movie Review] appeared first on /Film.

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Page 2 is a compilation of stories and news tidbits, which for whatever reason, didn’t make the front page of /Film. After the jump we’ve included 36 different items, fun images, videos, casting tidbits, articles of interest and more. It’s like a mystery grab bag of movie web related goodness.

Header Photo: Ghost Trap Phone Case

How South Park Found Success Through Serialized Storytelling in Season 18

5 Big Geek Movie Questions Answered in 2014

Someone Made A Star Wars BB-8 Ornament And It’s Awesome

Aaron Sorkin Has Asked the Same Question With Every Show: What Kind of Day Has It Been?

The 12 Best Shots Of 2014

AT-AT Mini Bookends

Read This: a history of the maligned, beloved Star Wars Christmas Album

8 Festive Winter Movies For the Non-Christmasers Among Us

The ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ Connection to the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland Park

Five of the Best Times Stars Made Movie Cameo Appearances as Themselves

Star Wars: R2-D2′s Droid Workshop Book Trailer

How the Death of Mid-Budget Cinema Left a Generation of Iconic Filmmakers MIA

“Alien 35th Anniversary” Large By Scott Hopko

Style Is Substance A celebration of the absorbing atmospheres in 2014’s best genre films.

Best #Holiday card ever. Thanks @dave_filoni, @joelaron, @Keith_Kellogg and the rest of the #StarWarsRebels crew! pic.twitter.com/agpMzBKd3Z

— Matt Martin (@missingwords) December 16, 2014

Check out the Awesome ‘Star Wars Rebels‘ Crew Christmas Card

Top 10 Movie Mummies of All Time

Continue Reading Page 2 >>

The post Page 2: Ghostbusters, Star Wars, Alien, The Simpsons, Interstellar, Pulp Fiction, Ghostbusters, Star Trek, Hobbit, Tron appeared first on /Film.

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Previously, the #1 reason why the Alamo Drafthouse is the coolest theater chain in the country probably would’ve been its no talking or texting policy. However, that just got dethroned.

Fresh off the disappointing news that Sony Pictures has cancelled the December 25th release of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg‘s comedy, The Interview, the Alamo Drafthouse announced that, in its place, they’ll screen Matt Parker and Trey Stone‘s Team America: World Police.

This won’t be at every theater for every screening unfortunately. In fact, as of right now, it’s just one night, one show, at one theater. But it’s a clever, wonderful piece of programming from a chain known for that kind of thing. Read more about the Team America The Interview screening below.

Drafthouse announced the Team America The Interview idea on their Facebook page. Team America will screen December 27 at 7 p.m. at the Dallas Fort-Worth location. It’s a free screening and will be a sing-a-long, because of course it is.

Talking to the Hollywood Reporter, the creative manager and programmer at the Alamo Drafthouse Dallas/Fort Worth location, James Wallace, said ”We’re just trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation.”

For someone who may not understand the connection here, Team America: World Police is Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s 2004 R-rated musical puppet comedy about a group of elite American warriors who end up in North Korea tangling with Kim Jong-il, the late dictator and father of current one, Kim Jong-Un. It’s a very unflattering portrayal of the North Korean dictator that includes this incredible piece of work.

To be fair though, it also has some pretty unflattering words for Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and many others.

Like Rogen and Goldberg, Parker and Stone were met with criticism over the film, but the portrayal of North Korea was not the main sticking point. Mainly people were offended by the film’s graphic nature, its portrayal of America and political ideas. It went on to gross a respectable $50 million worldwide.

You can buy tickets to see Team America, in place of The Interview, at this link. Here’s the Drafthouse’s great description of the film and event.

Sure, you can celebrate your independence the usual way: slow sipping a beer as you stand over a grill while people you have only mild contempt for wait inside for their free meal. OR you can join The Action Pack as we celebrate the GREATEST MOVIE MADE ABOUT AMERICAN PATRIOTISM EVER and celebrate its 10th anniversary!

The world is different in 2014 than it was in 2004. Kim Jong Il is gone. I don’t know if Michael Moore is still around or not. But a lot of the brilliance in TEAM AMERICA is timeless. Acting is still the greatest gift any human being can possess, and it’s the only way to save America from the terrorists. Puppet f***cking  is still awesome. And Matt Damon is still Matt Damon.

So celebrate your indendence this year with the Action Pack. We’ll have subtitles for all the songs and all of our favorite quotes, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to scream out “AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!” at the top of your lungs. And yeah, we will have American flags, red white and blue streamers, balloons, and more for everyone. And THAT is how true American heroes will be celebrating this year, but if you want to let the terrorists win…well, that’s your prerogative.

The post One Alamo Drafthouse Location Will Play ‘Team America’ In Place Of ‘The Interview’ appeared first on /Film.

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Tuesday, the hackers that exposed Sony’s internal workings went a step further and issued a big threat, invoking 9/11 in a statement that promised action against theaters showing The Interview. But the Department of Homeland Security — a group that really doesn’t mess around when it comes to this sort of thing — said there was no credible information to indicate an actual threat. Sony was fairly magnanimous about the situation, saying it would allow theaters to make the decision to show the film or not, even if bookings had already been locked in.

Last night Carmike Cinemas and Bow Tie Cinemas pulled the film, and today in a precedent-setting move, the five major theater chains in the US and Canada all dropped The Interview.

Update: Sony is now considering a VOD release of the film; more info below.

Update #2: Sony has canceled the December theatrical release of The Interview. Full statement below.

Update #3: Sony has now confirmed they have “no further release plans” for the film while American Intelligence has officially linked North Korea to the Sony hack. Details below

[Editor’s note: The original story follows with significant updates at the bottom.]

As of press time, Regal Cinemas, Cinemark, Cineplex and AMC Theatres will no longer show The Interview.

The Wrap says that Arclight Cinemas will also pull the film. (Earlier this morning, the chain tweeted that no decision had yet been made about the film.)

We haven’t confirmed that the Alamo Drafthouse will continue with plans to show the film, but one primary Drafthouse employee said plans had not changed, and I can’t imagine Tim League backing down now:

@russfischer @drafthouse we’ve already sold tickets. This is happening.

— Greg MacLennan (@alamogreg) December 17, 2014

Tickets are still on sale for Drafthouse theaters in Austin.

It doesn’t need to be explained that this is a terrible move. Top US officials have said there is no real threat. Now there is a precedent showing that major companies will back down in the face of even an insubstantial threat. (Did lawyers for the theater chains make this call, based on the idea that there would be culpability on the theater side in the outlandish event something did happen?)

What ramifications will this have on future films that might have political content? Don’t expect Sony to follow through on calls to release The Interview online, even though that would ensure that whoever wants to see it can do so, and simultaneously push back against the theater chains that caved today.

Update: While the idea to just throw The Interview on the internet isn’t likely to happen, Sony is now reportedly considering a “premium VOD” release plan, per Variety, which would possibly be day-and-date with the planned theatrical release. What that premium tag means for pricing is unknown at this point.

Update #2: Here’s Sony’s statement on the scrapped December release of The Interview. Given that all major theater chains in the US had already pulled the film, this was all but inevitable. But then, Sony opened the door for that in the first place by saying it would be fine with chains deciding to drop the movie.

In light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film The Interview, we have decided not to move forward with the planned December 25 theatrical release. We respect and understand our partners’ decision and, of course, completely share their paramount interest in the safety of employees and theater-goers.

Sony Pictures has been the victim of an unprecedented criminal assault against our employees, our customers, and our business. Those who attacked us stole our intellectual property, private emails, and sensitive and proprietary material, and sought to destroy our spirit and our morale – all apparently to thwart the release of a movie they did not like. We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public. We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome.

Update #3: The New York Times reports that intelligence now confirms that the Sony hack that start this whole event, and brought terror threats against theaters who would show the interview, can officially be linked to North Korea. They were “centrally involved.”

Meanwhile, despite some earlier speculation, the latest update as of December 17, 4:30 p.m. PST is that Sony has “no further release plans for the film.” That includes VOD or DVD. Variety reported.

The post Sony Cancels ‘The Interview’ Release, Has No Plans For VOD/DVD; U.S. Links North Korea to Sony Hacking appeared first on /Film.

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The Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer was filled with so many visual stimulants, it’s funny how the auditory one has become the most interesting point of conversation. After some debate, we found it was Andy Serkis delivering the clip’s chilling monologue. Not only was it chilling because of the voice itself; it was the words delivered. This character would have to be incredibly important to have felt a literal awakening in both sides of the Force. Rumors began running rampant about the character. Is Serkis a Sith? How old is he? Could he be more than one character? Will be play a performance-capture or human character?

Now the actor has answered a few of those questions. We still don’t know his name and exact purpose, but Serkis did confirm he’s only playing one character, and that it was his unaltered voice in the trailer. Read more about the Andy Serkis Star Wars rumors, and their answers, below.

Serkis was talking to Entertainment Weekly and dropped the following information.

• The voice in the trailer is the voice of the character of the movie. Unaltered.
• He only plays this one character.
• He won’t say if the character is performance capture or not.
• The only backstory he’ll give: “He’s been through some stuff.”
• He is “not leading a band of gymnasts or acrobats” as was rumored.
• He’ll be getting an action figure.

The biggest takeaway here is the confirmation he’s only playing one character. Some speculation was centered around an idea that Serkis was playing one performance capture character and another with his actual face. Now we can say for a fact that’s not true. What we can’t say is whether or not that character is human or not. If that’s his voice though, it doesn’t sound human. At least not any Star Wars human we’ve ever met who doesn’t wear some kind of mask. (Maybe Emperor Palpatine? But he still sounded more normal than this.)

The second most interesting piece is “He’s been through some stuff.” It’s confirmation that this character has a long past. He’s not some new addition to the galaxy. He’s been around for a while and that’ll probably – here’s the speculation – have an important role to play.

Are you excited to find out who Serkis is playing? What do you think of these Andy Serkis Star Wars rumors?

The post Andy Serkis Responds to Rumors About His ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Character appeared first on /Film.

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