Review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) by Eero V — 13 Dec 2014

While An Unexpected journey was an underwhelming start for The Hobbit trilogy that worked only by the sheer power of nostalgia, The Desolation of Smaug is notably more entertaining and assured in terms of tone and pace.

It avoids the greatest pitfalls of second installments, mainly that it doesn't just feel like an interlude full of stilted talking that only sets the pieces in the right place for the grand finale (which The Two Towers suffered from).

The film has much less superfluous scenes (like the battle of the stone giants) than its predecessor and manages to keep the tone consistent. The action is engrossing and the over-the-top barrel run is one of the film's most memorable sequences, delivering lots of inventive character deaths which Peter Jackson has always excelled.

Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage continue to shine in their roles as Bilbo and Thorin, and Smaug himself is one of the most earth-shattering monsters in the history of cinema, with Benedict Cumberbatch's blood-freezing vocal performances impossible to forget.

But in spite of its many improvements, the film still suffers badly from many narrative and technological problems. While Smaug is one of the most impressive creations of the CGI era, many other effects still look incredibly plastic, lacking the grit and realism of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Jackson may have wanted the trilogy to have a more fabulous look, because the original book is essentially a fairytale, but sometimes the visuals border on the ugliness of George Lucas' Star Wars prequels.

The character of Tauriel (created by Jackson and not J.R.R. Tolkien, which caused controversy long before the film's release) is also a major drawback, as she doesn't have anything meaningful to do, has an embarrassingly laborious romance with Kili, and dialogue that resembles half-baked fan fiction.

And the ending is very imprudent, a foolish cliffhanger that feels like a slap in the face. By now it should be clear to everyone that The Hobbit trilogy will never have a major impact on commercial cinema or the fantasy genre like that of the LOTR trilogy, but The Desolation of Smaug still manages to reach some of the magic of that masterwork, with the help of its sympathetic characters, grand storytelling and Howard Shore's score.