Review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) by Maverick G — 12 Dec 2015

Having not seen the theatrical version I have no idea if this extended version is, in fact, any better. I happened to look at the timer around the hour mark and in fairness the time had not dragged but I was left wondering what had actually happened in that hour.

Not a great deal. A brief backstory, a pointless encounter, a brief spider fight and then the elves. I do not mind taking the scenic route on a film's journey but when that route takes twice as long and there is bugger all to see I do get a bit irritated.

My other issue is that the journey is taken with a lot of characters who fill up space without actually contributing to anything, namely the dwarves. I still do not know who half of them are. It certainly picks up the pace in the second half and as a whole is a lot more fluid than the first instalment.

Regardless of whether they are faithful to the book or not does not interest me, this is a cinematic interpretation, however as a film there is a bit too much fat on this to make it a truly satisfying experience.

I could also have done without the whole BBC production looking Laketown segment, badly cast and seemed out of place.