Review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) by James S — 27 Jun 2016

Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, and Evangeline Lilly.

Directed By: Peter Jackson.

Rated: PG-13.

Gandalf, Bilbo, and the Dwarves move closer to the Lonely Mountain, but still many dangers lay between them and their goal. A poisoned forest full of Spiders and Elves, a town whose inhabitants may not be their friends, and the terrible dragon Smaug, all stand in their way. All the while, a greater evil grows more powerful in the darkness...

Has it already been a year since we last journeyed to Middle Earth with our guide and storyteller, Peter Jackson? Luckily time seems to pass quickly because we have now reached part two of his Hobbit trilogy. I've been excited for this movie all year and couldn't wait to see it. Thankfully, it did not disappoint.

Martin Freeman was perfectly cast as Bilbo. When the movie was first announced and casting was still going on, I hoped he would be picked. After seeing him as Arthur Dent in the under rated The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, I thought he could pull off the role of Bilbo easily and indeed he has. One of the best moments he has in the movie is when he kills a spider, just to get back The Ring and the confusion, regret, fear, and guilt that plays over his face after the fact is powerful as he realizes what The Ring can make you do, yet he still doesn't want to lose it. It's a wonderful scene.

We are also lucky to get Ian McKellen to return as Gandalf. It's nearly impossible to imagine anyone else in the role after the great job that he did in The Lord of the Rings movies. He capture's Gandalf's kind wisdom and fierce power wonderfully.

Also back is Orlando Bloom as the elf Legolas, though he is a bit more stuck up then when we last saw him and seems to think highly of himself. It's still cool to have him back and I hope they remember to show what happens to make him the more cheerful self he becomes. He does get to do his best to show up everyone else when it comes to who can kill Orcs the coolest way, but Evangeline Lilly's Tauriel gives him a run for his money every step of the way. Together, they are in epic force and very cool to watch in each fight scene they are given. I wasn't too sure about them adding a complete new character but they did a good job creating Tauriel. They pulled it off, much like how Arwen's role was expanded on in the first films. The movie was in need of some female characters and she is a great addition.

Someone else I wasn't too sure about was Benedict Cumberbatch voicing Smaug the dragon. I didn't think he had the magnitude and menace to do the role justice. Yet again, they proved me wrong, because he did a fantastic job. I'm sure they did some tweaking to his voice in post-production, but the skill that laid the ground work for that still shows.

Slyvester McCoy's Radagast is slowly growing on me. Maybe he is just better in smaller doses, but I found him much less annoying this time and far more likable. I also like Luke Evan as Bard the Bowman. The more movies I see him in, the more I like him as an actor. I look forward to seeing more of him in the next film.

Richard Armitage proves to be a powerful presence on-screen the more Thorin gets closer to his throne under the mountain. and more desperate to be the king he believes he is destined to be. The rest of the dwarf company is great and they all do a great job with their roles, but I enjoy Ken Stott as Balin the most. Dean O'Gorman and Aiden Turner still shine as Fili and Kili, and James Nesbitt is fun in the small moments he gets as Bofur.

I think my favorite part of the whole movie was the escape in the barrels. Much like the Goblin Town scenes in the first movie, it gets pretty close to being over the top, but is still fun to watch. Also any time Legolas and Tauriel show up. They are awesome. Something I was surprised at enjoying was an unexpected relationship that starts to develop between a couple of characters that will be interesting to see where it goes. I don't want to give anything more away, so that's all I will say about it. The movie has some good scenes (nothing nearly as memorible as Riddles In The Dark was), however like the first movie, this one isn't without a few minor problems. For purists of the novel who hated everything that was added in the first part, you will be even more disappointed with this one. I do enjoy what they've added, expanding on the novel and building onto Tolkien's world. It all fits and doesn't feel out-of-place. I was disappointed in how they went about introducing and the overall look of Beorn (I think mostly because it was very different from how I pictured him). I enjoy the part in the book where he is pretty much tricked into letting the company stay with him, just to hear the story of how they got there. Sadly it's not nearly as fun of a scene. How the dwarves go about meeting the other characters (the Mirkwood Elves, Bard the Bowman, etc.) is pretty much the biggest change from the book. Did it ruin the movie for me? No. It's something you come to expect every time they come out with a movie based from a book series.

The other thing that bugs me is the change to Legolas' eyes. They look completely normal in The Lord of the Rings films, and this time they have a weird shine to them. I don't know if maybe they were trying to make his eyes look more Elf-like, but I would think continuity would be more important than adding that. It wasn't as distracting as I thought it would be, but I would still like to know the reasoning behind it.

If you couldn't stand all the changes in the first movie, then you probably won't enjoy this one. I would recommend giving it a chance though, because it is a good, fun movie. Not as good of a follow-up as Two Towers was to The Fellowship of the Ring, but still a great epic and I for one hope that The Hobbit: There And Back Again comes as quickly as this one did.

8 Reels Out of 10.

"If this is to end in fire, then we will all burn together!".