In hope of a new, surprising year for films

It is a well-trodden path, where the action dilutes what little substance there is, and it is far from subtle.

That The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is the sixth in a series of films from two J R R Tolkien books does not help.

It was nice the first time round with the voluminous novel, Lord of the Rings, made to span three movies, but it became exhausting once it was revived as a three-part prequel, drawing from a thinner children’s book.

One movie based on The Hobbit would have sufficed. No wonder that even director Peter Jackson has expressed relief that it is finally over, after 17 years.

Why this adherence to what has been tried before? Perhaps attempting something new and taking a chance is discouraged when the bottom line is all that matters. (“The Hobbit finale conquering global box office”; Dec 30)

So we have this regurgitation, be it sequel or prequel, and though enhanced by advances in movie technology, it cannot rid us of this feeling that we have seen this before, perhaps in a different form.

The critical question of originality, or lack thereof, comes into play again. How many different ways can you swing it to make it interesting? This massing of armies for the final battle is all too familiar.

It is time someone comes up with something new to excite filmgoers again, perhaps not something so large-scale and associated with blockbusters, which tend to be overwrought, but rather, held back taut for greater effect towards the end.

Perhaps 2015 may surprise us, even if Christmas has come and gone.