The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Movie Review

With 2012’s ‘’The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’’ Peter Jackson returned to Middle Earth to begin a prequel trilogy with mixed results. One year later and ‘’The Desolation of Smaug’’ has built a more solid effort into what is arguably Tolkien’s best known story.

After narrowly escaping the clutches of the ruthless Azog, the company of dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and accompanied by Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) continue their trek to the lonely mountain, having to contend with giant spiders, uncooperative elves, and of course Smaug himself. Like ‘’The Two Towers’’ before it ‘’TDOS’’ often splits the story, cutting between Bilbo and the dwarves on their journey and Gandalf’s personal mission to discover the full extent of Sauron’s return to power. However where ‘’Lord of the Rings’’ maintained a perfect balance between the stories of Aragorn and Frodo, ‘’The Desolation of Smaug’’ does become quite unbalanced in this regard, especially towards the end where Gandalf is pushed off to the side in favour of pitting the dwarves and Bilbo up against Smaug. But where the narrative becomes unbalanced the action sequences are boosted in entertainment factor and quantity; the tense escape from a spider nest and a fast-paced river run where elves, dwarves and orcs clash are highly enjoyable but it’s the multi-staged battle with Smaug in the depths of the lonely mountain that stakes it’s claim as the most exciting moment of the series so far. The pacing issues from ‘’An Unexpected Journey’’ have also been fixed with the movie proceeding along well, not dilly-dallying in one place for too long and ending at the right time, rather than thrusting the audience into another action scene like it’s predecessor did.

The casting and characters have also been upped for the sequel; in addition to developing further they also provide worthwhile links between ‘’The Hobbit’’ and ‘’Lord of the Rings’’ Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins has been downplayed a bit for a large majority of the film but you can clearly see that the One Ring is beginning to take hold of him. Gandalf, despite not having quite enough screen time discovers more than he can handle when up against Sauron and his army of Orcs. Legolas (Orlando Bloom) makes a welcome return, bringing more awesome stunt-work while also giving insight into the character before Lord of the Rings by being decisively more serious and less laid back. Even some of the dwarves are worth caring about this time as they go through many more desperate situations, causing their camaraderie and unique traits to shine through. Several new characters also make their mostly worthwhile debuts; Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) is a bit flat in terms of emotion but she nonetheless plays off Legolas very well in the action scenes. Bard (Luke Evans) is a loyal yet cautious human who is just as concerned for his own family and town as he is for the quest to reclaim the lonely mountain. Yet ironically the best new actor in the film is one who isn’t live action at all; Benedict Cumberbatch is perfectly cast as the dragon Smaug. His voice is deep, powerful and foreboding, ensuring that the audience always feels his presence. This, combined with his huge size makes him an unforgettable antagonist. New characters aside, when compared with LOTR in which just about every character had their own purpose and moment of glory there are unfortunately still some throwaway characters to be found here. Stephen Fry as the Master of Lake-Town and Ryan Gage as his servant are woefully underused but outside of these characters the main cast does a great job in the roles.

As with all of Jackson’s previous films set in Middle Earth the mountainous regions of New Zealand once again serve a perfect backdrop with stunning vistas to behold throughout the film. ‘’The Desolation of Smaug’’ carves out its own niche through a greater variety of environments that add to an already detailed lore; these include the eerie forest of Mirkwood, the city of Wood Elves and not to mention the silent and expansive caverns of Erebor. The action sequences are shot quite well with good framing, especially the battle with Smaug which makes use of long shots to create a brilliant sense of scale. On the other hand the music that plays in these sequences, while authentic to the fantasy genre can be a bit irregular at times, cutting out at random intervals. Despite these gripes the world of Middle Earth remains a spectacle and easily one of the best settings of the fantasy genre.

It still has some problems but ‘’The Desolation of Smaug’’ makes a marked improvement on the original, bringing more action, more drama and better pacing. I eagerly await the final chapter of the trilogy.

Rating: 4/5 Stars