Review: 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'

One of the things that both 'An Unexpected Journey' and 'The Desolation of Smaug' have gotten absolutely right is they've taken the most interesting scenes in the book and made sure they were the most interesting scenes in the film(s). Riddles in the Dark, in Gollum's cave, and, well, the Desolation of Smaug, inside the Lonely Mountain.

This film, 'The Desolation of Smaug', certainly was better than the first installment, 'An Unexpected Journey'. Yet only by a small amount. With it being set for yet another (final) movie after this one, film two still takes much time and drags on rather slowly, or for too long in fight/action sequences that really have no purpose in being there. That was mostly my main problem with the first film as well: The insistence that Peter Jackson should make these movies similar to, and even bigger, than 'The Lord of the Rings', when it really doesn't need to be. Sure it is very entertaining, but only in the moment and doesn't really stay with you long once the movie is finished.

The Story: 'Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, is taken upon a journey with a the wizard, Gandalf, and a group of dwarves, in order to reclaim a homeland and ancient treasure from the fiery keeping of the gigantic, ferocious dragon, Smaug.' Simple, right? One might think so, were it not for numberless additional subplots and characters that are being added to this quaint story. But, to the film's credit, the additional material does in fact make things more interesting than they ever were in the original book. The original story has always been a little too simple to be that interesting.

To me, what made 'The Lord of the Rings' movies so great and memorable was they took an equal amount of time developing its story and character relationships, along with it's action and special effects, balancing them evenly. With 'The Hobbit' films however, I remember the spectacles and effects a little more than I do the many characters and subplots in the films. Which seems very ironic, considering how much shorter the novel, 'The Hobbit', is than any of the Lord of the Rings books are.

The saving grace of this movie is Smaug, the dragon. Where do I even begin in describing this character? That's right, character. Not a mindless creature, or just another typical obstacle to defeat (albeit, an enormous one at that), but a magnificent beast with personality, voiced and even performed by the incredible Benedict Cumberbatch. His scenes, as the dragon, are golden; no pun intended. This has got to be one of the greatest dragons ever depicted in movie history. No doubt one of the largest of the dragons.

My rating: 3 / 4