The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug In Theater Review

Better than its predecessor, the second The Hobbit movie still lacks the emotional depth and nearly flawless execution that made The Lord of the Rings trilogy a masterpiece. With that statement out of the way, I’ll go into a few particulars.

First, do not take small children to this movie. The giant spiders and the titular dragon are perfect material for childhood nightmares. Also, if you have arachnophobia, you’ll want to keep your eyes closed for one of the better action sequences in the movie.

Next up is the simple fact that The Desolation of Smaug is an action film with no real breathing room. There are a few slower scenes, where there isn’t wall to wall action, but this film is all about spectacle and 3D!!!

While I saw it in 2D, far too many shots screamed “look at me” in the gratuitous shoving of objects in your face. In fact, there is no such thing as restraint in the CG effects – it is almost Michael Bay style film making. Then there are the endless decapitations which seems to be an obsession of director Peter Jackson’s.

In regards to the big draw, Smaug, I was disappointed. However, I think most people won’t be. The voice performance by Benedict Cumberbatch was not impressive to my surprise. I also didn’t like how hyperactive the awakened beast was, but that is probably a side effect of the story being padded out far too much. At least the visual design of the dragon is excellent, ranking just behind the dragons of Dragonslayer and Reign of Fire. Unfortunately, he looked too CG for my tastes.

Not happy with how Bard the Bowman was changed. Don’t like the added plot or their reducing his fearsome skills to relying on a super weapon. Apparently there must be no challenge to Legolas being the best archer for fear of upsetting his fan girls.

I also don’t remember Thorin as coming off as so selfish to the point of being a villain. At best he’s an antihero as portrayed, but he’s thoroughly unlikeable in this installment. All the character advancement in the previous movie is reset here to my annoyance.

On to some positive notes.

Martin Freeman is superb as Bilbo and almost single handedly carries the film. Where he showed momentary flashes in An Unexpected Journey, he’s consistently charismatic with his absence keenly felt when the story shifts away from the furry footed protagonist.

Beorn was well handled, especially the makeup. This was of concern, because along with Bard he was a favorite character in the novel back when I was a kid.

The CG effects are better this time out, though still occasionally sloppy in places with gliding feet again. Much improved is the elves hopping about, which looked terrible in early trailers. Unfortunately, the use of practical makeup and effects like in Jackson’s other Middle-earth trilogy looks better. Alas, that ship has sailed in favor of computers.

Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel, the non-canon she-elf warrior is a pleasant surprise. Going in expecting to be highly annoyed by her insertion, she is instead a very likeable character. Her providing a love interest for an established character is not exactly what we were led to expect, so kudos to the production team for that. Tauriel is the most likeable elf in the films yet.

Though it could be subliminal elvish brainwashing was inserted in between frames affecting me.

All in all, a mediocre if entertaining movie. It feels like Peter Jackson is repeating himself and a fair number of scenes were nearly Xeroxed from The Lord of the Rings. That’s not counting the deliberate homages to his own work including the very start of the picture.

My advice is to park your brain for this flick. Since there’s no depth, it won’t be missed.