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The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Movie

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

2014 • Adventure, Fantasy

Woke Score
3
out of 10

Plot

After the Dragon leaves the Lonely Mountain, the people of Lake-town see a threat coming. Orcs, dwarves, elves and people prepare for war. Bilbo sees Thorin going mad and tries to help. Meanwhile, Gandalf is rescued from the Necromancer's prison and his rescuers realize who the Necromancer is.

Overall Series Review

The final installment of The Hobbit trilogy is primarily an action-heavy fantasy film that focuses on classic themes of greed, power, and the alliance of different races against a common spiritual evil. The narrative centers on Thorin's tragic descent into gold-lust, a corruption referred to as 'dragon sickness,' and his ultimate redemption. The non-canonical addition of the Elven warrior Tauriel and her romantic subplot with the Dwarf Kili is the most significant departure from the source material and the primary source of 'woke' signaling. The film also features a contrast between the honorable, reluctant male hero Bard and the cowardly, incompetent male villain Alfrid, which provides a modern political subtext on leadership. Overall, the foundational themes remain classically conservative with a strong moral and spiritual framework, only slightly skewed by the modern effort to insert a prominent female warrior and highlight identity-based group conflict over resources.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics3/10

The plot's central conflict revolves around competing 'racial' claims to land, treasure, and historical heirlooms among Elves, Dwarves, and Men, which mirrors real-world identity conflicts. However, the film ultimately celebrates universal meritocracy: the common Man, Bard, earns his leadership, and the Hobbit, Bilbo, is the moral compass. The Dwarf King Thorin is vilified for his greed and paranoia, not his race, but the film ultimately honors his sacrifice. No main established characters are race-swapped, as the casting adheres to Tolkien's descriptions of the various races, and the focus is on a coalition of good 'races' versus the evil Orcs.

Oikophobia3/10

The film does not present Western civilization or heritage as fundamentally corrupt, but it does heavily focus on the corruption of the Dwarven royal line through Thorin's dragon sickness. Thorin's internal sickness turns him hostile toward his own kin, home, and historical honor, hoarding his people's ancestral wealth and refusing to help the displaced Men of Lake-town. However, his final redemption and death is an act of reclaiming honor and sacrificing himself for his friends, suggesting a flaw in one ruler, not the civilization itself. The humble home of the Shire is respected as the ultimate refuge.

Feminism5/10

The most notable instance is the non-canonical inclusion of Tauriel, who is an ultra-competent warrior and Captain of the Guard, fitting the 'Girl Boss' archetype. She openly defies her King (a male authority figure) based on her personal moral beliefs and romantic love, prioritizing a Dwarf's life over Elven duty. While she is a Mary Sue-like warrior, her entire storyline is driven by an intense, tragic romantic love for the male character Kili, which significantly tempers the pure anti-natalist/career-focused message and roots her arc in a traditional emotional dynamic.

LGBTQ+1/10

The narrative maintains a normative structure, with all central romantic subplots adhering to male-female pairing (Tauriel and Kili). The film features traditional family structures, particularly Bard protecting his children and rallying the survivors of Lake-town. The comic relief villain Alfrid is a greedy, cowardly, and effeminate character, but his deviance is framed as moral failure and avarice, not sexual ideology. No explicit alternative sexualities, deconstruction of the nuclear family, or gender ideology is present.

Anti-Theism1/10

The core of the movie's extended plot is the struggle between pure spiritual good and evil. Gandalf is rescued by the spiritual forces of the White Council (Galadriel, Elrond, Saruman), who confront the purely evil Necromancer/Sauron. The themes are transcendent: the 'sickness' of greed is a moral/spiritual corruption, and the characters who act according to universal virtues (courage, honor, sacrifice) are celebrated, while pure evil is monstrous and supernatural. There is no hostility toward faith or a higher moral order.