Oh The Desolation!!!

So apparently it’s pronounced Smaug (like Smowg not Smorg), incase any of you fine moviegoers were confused? The second installment in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy hit theatres late December 2013 to mixed reviews. Many fans of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy have noted that this film is rather dull compared to its predecessors, both Lord Of The Rings and the first Hobbit movie. Despite being a shorter story than the series that followed it by author J.R.R Tolkien, The Hobbit has been split up into three equal parts to obviously rake in the big bucks again. But can we really complain? A new chapter each year isn’t much to complain about, especially when the final chapter of the Hobbit trilogy means an end to over ten years of films of this caliber reining supreme.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug picks up where the first movie left off. Bilbo Baggins played by Sherlock star Martin Freeman, is well under way on his quest to help dwarf king Thorin (Richard Armitage) reclaim his homeland from the evil guarding it. A ginormous dragon named Smaug voiced by the wonderful Benedict Cumberbatch, is but one evil the gang must face with the help of meddling wizard Gandalf (returning cast member Ian McKellan). Now heavily entrenched in the same narrative that existed in The Lord Of The Rings, Bilbo has found the one ring to rule them all, but without any knowledge of its origin nor any suspicion from his fellow travellers. With action sequences that take the viewer on a roller coaster ride; as the group sail down stream in barrels to escape the elf king and the pack of orks that have been chasing them since the first installment, The Desolation Of Smaug is adventurous and fun. If like me you are not a major fan of this type of fantasy entertainment and find it hard to keep up with who this character is, and what the other’s names are, I highly recommend some light reading material or at least re-watching the first movie (An Unexpected Journey) to refresh your minds.

Returning characters from The Lord Of The Rings trilogy like Legolas (Orlando Bloom) are a welcome dose of familiarity. They do however; stick out like a sore thumb. Each of the characters that are featured in this chapter or referred to purely because of their appearance in the original trilogy let the film down. It feels at times that you are not watching a new adventure, but rather a prequel to justify the three movies that came before the Hobbit trilogy. New characters like Tauriel (Lost’s Evangeline Lilly) and Bard (played by Luke Evans) have little impact among the long roster of actor’s either returning or joining the cast of this movie. The incredible amount of special effects and CG/Motion capture do create the world of Middle-earth, but at times seem a little rushed. Fights with gigantic spiders, and the flakey embodiment of Sauron (the primary antagonist of The Lord Of The Rings, and creator of Bilbo’s precious find) are pretty awesome. During Legolas’s lengthy hand-to-hand battles however, the CG looks almost game like. Handycam shots employed to give the river escape sequence a more realistic feel are also heavily misplaced. 

All in all, the film is definitely worth its length if you are a fan of the book or of The Lord Of the Rings trilogy. If you feel the need to see it because you put yourself through hours and hours of The Lord Of The Rings on DVD after you felt pressured to see what all the fuss was about (a little like me), then prepare yourself for over two hours of action and madness that leave you a little disappointed when the film abruptly ends to make way for the final chapter. 

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is in theatres now, and The Hobbit: There And Back Again is due December of this year.