2.5 stars | Action-fantasy | PG-13 | 144 min. 
 
 Bilbo Baggins has always been something of an Everyman, both in the writings of creator J.R.R. Tolkien and in the films of director Peter Jackson, so it's natural for audiences to want to relate to him. 
 
 But Baggins is an all-too-apt metaphor for Jackson's adaptations of "The Hobbit," a film series that has gotten so far removed from its modest source material that it's a bit like Bilbo's own journey of self-discovery, disillusionment and eventual addiction to a certain creative self-indulgence... er, The One Ring. 
 
 Like Bilbo's, Jackson's quest has mutated into something larger and stranger than he ever intended. 
 
 Entertaining? Absolutely. But not exactly what he (or we) signed up for. 
 
 In this image released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Martin Freeman appears in a scene from "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies." (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures, Mark Pokorny) (Mark Pokorny/AP) 
 
 "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" completes Jackson's trilogy of "Hobbit" adaptations, which were eked out of Tolkien's relatively slim 1937 work of fiction. It's also the (supposed) end of Jackson's Oscar-winning Middle-earth film saga, which started with 2001's "Fellowship of the Ring." 
 
 "The Battle of the Five Armies" picks up exactly where last year's sturdy "The Desolation of Smaug" left off, with the fearsome dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) bearing down on Lake-town in one of the most tense and spectacular openings in action-film history. Weta Digital's special effects are pure eye candy, from Smaug's rivers of belched flame to Lake-town's swift ruin. 
 
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 Unfortunately, after Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) fells the beast — no spoilers here, as it happens right up top — the film loses its steely focus. The proud band of 13 dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) have reclaimed their kingdom of Erebor, which is stuffed with mountains of gold. Elves, men and orcs are all after it as a greater menace boils beneath the surface of Middle-earth. 
 
 In the meantime, the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) sees the bubbles forming as he's freed from the spooky fortress of Dol Guldur by his wizard buddies. Will the "dragon-sickness" of hoarded gold destroy Thorin's formerly noble intentions? Will Bilbo (Martin Freeman) ever see The Shire again? And what about that tacked-on subplot with the elf-warrior (Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel) and her little dwarf boyfriend (Aidan Turner as Kili)? 
 
 The broad strokes of Tolkien's work are here, especially since Jackson drew on the appendices of "Lord of the Rings" in padding out "The Hobbit" from a single movie to two, and then three. But fans of Tolkien — or really, Jackson's overall Middle-earth canon — may feel a bit lost in "The Battle of the Five Armies." 
 
 Jackson makes some cool moves, especially in a scene in which Sauron reveals his true self to the wizards. It's a brilliant and psychedelic use of 3-D technology. 
 
 But those are too often trampled by staccato bursts of soft-focus speechifying. If the film was somehow slapped together in a series of last-minute editing decisions, it would be easy to see where Jackson got the character motivations and pacing. 
 
 PHOTOS: More images from "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" 
 
 However, movies of this scale rarely find their soul in last-minute decisions, so we're forced to confront the idea that this litany of repetitively foreboding proclamations, epic battles and unearned crying jags was intentional. 
 
 Jackson's gleefully sadistic sense of humor finds new levels of absurdity here, too. Juxtaposing brutal images (and sounds) of refugee-style suffering with bawdy slapstick is jarring enough — even taking into account that Jackson directed the splatter classics "Bad Taste" and "Braindead." 
 
 But the brutality is not limited to the numerous beheadings, sword impalements and otherwise improbably muscled orcs being taken down by slight creatures. Jackson also bashes us over the head with simplistic morality and sentiment, using corny dialogue to hammer home themes and events that are already glaringly obvious (see the transgressions of the Lake-town baddie Alfrid). Slow-motion close-ups of heavily made-up actors in various states of sobbing seem to make up a good quarter of the film. 
 
 It's in this melodrama that Jackson ultimately finds his aesthetic. Despite the CGI wizardry, this is old-school spectacle, writ impossibly large and broad for the masses. It lacks the weight and subtlety of the "Lord of the Rings" films, but it's still visually arresting at every turn. 
 
 From a tonal perspective, Jackson has crafted an unmatched body of work with his Middle-earth saga. With few exceptions, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy has aged beautifully in the decade since the last film was released, and "The Hobbit" may do the same. These films are, at worst, only about one-tenth as embarrassing to their forbears as George Lucas' "Star Wars" prequels were to the original trilogy. 
 
 "The Battle of the Five Armies" seems to know this. It's a big, bold, schizophrenic pageant that still manages to work on a surprising number of levels — creative liberties and indulgences be damned. Still, it's no wonder that by journey's end our good Mr. Baggins looks as exhausted and glad for it to be over as we are. 
 
 John Wenzel: 303-954-1642, jwenzel@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnwenzel ||||| The best way I know to give “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” the heartfelt praise it deserves is to acknowledge that I’m anything but a scholar in this field. As a late arrival to the J.R.R. Tolkien canon, I tried my best to keep track of all the characters, intricacies, symbols, nuances, layers and interconnections in Peter Jackson’s Tolkien films, but it wasn’t easy. Still, experiencing these spectacles has become increasingly pleasurable, except for the first Hobbit installment, “An Unexpected Journey,” which was burdened by obligatory introductions of characters and struggles to come. Now, thanks to... ||||| Martin Freeman in a scene from the film, "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies." (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures) 
 
 Some people are going to love "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies." 
 
 This is a fairly safe statement since the first "Hobbit" movie earned over $1 billion worldwide and the second made $958 million. 
 
 And this movie certainly lives up to its title. There is a hobbit and there are indeed five armies, though much of the time it seems more like 15. 
 
 But the essential problem here is the same thing director and co-writer Peter Jackson has been struggling with this entire franchise. He has taken one none-too-thick book and stretched it into three overly long movies. The result is a great deal of noise serving as filler. 
 
 The titular battle in this movie seems like it lasts 120 of the film's 144 minutes. It probably isn't that long, but it sure feels like it. And, after the film's opening sequence, it is really the only thing that happens. For many, battle fatigue will surely settle in. 
 
 The story, such as it is: After Hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and his band of dwarves take back the treasure-filled mountain from the dragon Smaug, Smaug gets all fired up and lays waste to the nearby village (just reading that sentence is headache-inducing). The survivors flee to the abandoned city near the mountain. 
 
 But then apparently every creature in Middle Earth realizes, hey, there's a mountain filled with gold and only seven (or however many) dwarves guarding it. Let's go get us some! 
 
 So elves and humans and other dwarves and, of course, orcs by the orcload come a'charging, all running smack into one another for the big battle. 
 
 The situation is complicated somewhat fiercely when the mountain-holding dwarves' leader, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), is struck with a sort of gold fever and refuses to share any of the wealth with anyone, no matter how deserving. 
 
 Anyway — battle, battle, battle. Orcs screaming, elves looking shiny, dwarves wielding hammers, battle, battle. Gandalf shows up, Bilbo disappears and reappears thanks to his magic ring and battle, battle some more. 
 
 The repetition is draining, sure, but Jackson also seems to have lost much of the visual imagination that kept his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy engaging. Once you've seen one giant orc, you've pretty much seen them all. 
 
 And the lack of distinction between Bilbo's dwarves again adds to the indistinct fuzziness of the franchise. Who are these guys? In "Lord of the Rings" every character was distinct and recognizable; in "The Hobbit," most of the dwarves come off as window dressing. 
 
 Here's the good news: After what feels like three days, the movie ends. And there can't be another one. 
 
 Ha! Nice try. This is Hollywood. There can always be another one if there's money to be made. 
 
 Well, at least there won't be another one for a while. 
 
 TLong@detroitnews.com 
 
 twitter.com/toomuchTomLong 
 
 'The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' 
 
 GRADE: C- 
 
 Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence and frightening images. 
 
 Running time: 144 minutes 
 
 "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" (PG-13) At last Peter Jackson's over-stretched telling of this fantasy classic comes to an end with an exhausting, cacophonous and repetitive battle of elves and orcs and such. (144 minutes) GRADE: C- 
 
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– The last of the Hobbit films is now playing in theaters, bringing with it an end to Peter Jackson's long foray through JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth (at least for now). How does the finale of the second trilogy compare to its predecessors? Here's what critics are saying about The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: "Entertaining? Absolutely," writes John Wenzel at the Denver Post. The film starts off with "one of the most tense and spectacular openings in action-film history." But soon, fans "may feel a bit lost," as if the movie was "somehow slapped together in a series of last-minute editing decisions." It's also clear that it's "far removed from its modest source material." It could be worse, though. Overall, "it still manages to work on a surprising number of levels." Peter Jackson continues to struggle with turning "one none-too-thick book ... into three overly long movies," writes Tom Long at the Detroit News. "The result is a great deal of noise serving as filler." Jackson "seems to have lost much of the visual imagination that kept his Lord of the Rings trilogy engaging." Long summarizes the flick like so: "Orcs screaming, elves looking shiny, dwarves wielding hammers, battle, battle." Joe Morgenstern, however, finds the film awe-inspiring. Sure, much of it "could qualify as an animated feature," he writes at the Wall Street Journal, but "the computer-generated effects here are executed so gorgeously ... and intertwined with such stirring live action, that the film as a whole is seamless, quite astonishing, and deeply satisfying." If you didn't watch first two movies, "the closing chapter isn't worth sitting through the 330 minutes' worth of movie that preceded it," writes Rene Rodriguez at the Miami Herald. Though in Rodriguez's view, the trilogy's final film is its best: It has an actual sense of "real life-and-death consequences," and the acting is even better. It's "fleet, rousing entertainment" with "CGI effects that raise the bar on the fantasy genre," he says. "Mr. Jackson, you proved your point by landing the finish. Now please, no more Middle-earth, ever."