The Hobbit; The Desolation of Smaug (2D)

Plot: Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and the Dwarves are journeying to the Lonely Mountain to kill the dragon, Smaug, who captured the mountain's hidden cavern and pile of gold from Thorin's (Richard Armitage's) grandfather decades ago. We rejoin our heroes as they seek shelter with a giant bear before entering the dark Murkwood Forest, where they are attacked by giant spiders and then captured by elves. They escape with help from boatman Bard (Luke Evans) while being chased by elves and orcs. Bilbo helps them enter the mountain though a magic door, and then sneak up on the dragon, who is a formidable foe. The movie ends with a cliffhanger naturally since this is the second part of a trilogy.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Smaug: The Hobbit II is a "road" movie -- all transitions from one adventure to another. Happily Tolkien provided many stories to adapt, and with the aid of new subplots concocted for the film, we have continuous suspense. Dramatically it starts in the middle of a story, and ends with nothing at all. Why did it end here?  The other basic flaw is the mix of comic and the deadly: like silly fat dwarves in barrels killing bad guys. 

Tolkien's story has an enormous body count, and I grew tired of the fighting because it seemed random after a while. The fighting is comic-book hero style with bloodless deaths administered by a single blow from the heroes.  

Many of the visuals are impressive with grand sets highlighting clever designs. I saw this in 2D because of the high-frame rate 3D from The Hobbit I, was terrible, terrible, terrible. 

Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly

Directed by: Peter Jackson, based on the book by JRR Tolkien

Rating: 2.5 stars: an improvement from the awful first installment. Still suffers from the absence of dramatic structure and a blah empty ending. Recommended for Tolkien fans -- non-fans should stay away. 

 

More: Why is there so much fighting in Tolkien? He was in the army in both World Wars, and most of his WWI unit died. Maybe his fantasy is escapist, but this fantasy is much bloodier than modern fantasy.  

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