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 first trailer for the first of Peter Jackson’s two-part film adaptation of The Hobbit , subtitled An Unexpected Journey , is out. And it’s just as brilliant as you’d hope and expect, even if it doesn’t do a lot more than show the main characters. Watch the embed below or see it on Apple’s trailers site. Follow the jump below the video for the film’s first officially-released poster.
– An early Christmas gift for Lord of the Rings fans: The first official trailer for the first part of Peter Jackson's two-part adaptation of The Hobbit has been released, reports Wired. An Unexpected Journey, one of 2012's most hotly anticipated releases, stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and will be out next December. The trailer reveals plenty about Jackson's plans for his second outing in Middle Earth, and makes it clear that new material he has written based on JRR Tolkein's other writings won't be saved for the second movie, notes Cinema Blend.