The Hobbit : Desolation of Smaug is a fantastic sequel to last year’s The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey. The numerous action sequences are amazing and fun, the adventure is epic, and the cinematography, just like in the last one, is excellent. It is also well acted and features spectacular CGI by the always strong WETA. That CGI includes one of the best digital creatures of the year, Smaug.
The Hobbit : Desolation of Smaug opens with a flashback of Gandalf ( Ian McKellan) and Thorin Okaenshield (Richard Armitrage) first meeting where Gandalf convices Thorin to attempt to take back the dwarven kingdom of Erebor from Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch is the voice and does the motion capture ). Cut to 12 months later where the movie picks up with Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and the Dwarves (Adian Turner (Kili), Dean O’ Gorman (Fili), James Nesbit (Bofur), Jed Borphy (Nori), Graham McTavish ( Dwalin), Ken Scott (Balin), Conan Stevens (Bolg), Adam Brown ( Ori), Dominic Keating (Galon),William Kircher (Bifur), Peter Hambelton (Gloin), John Callen (Oin), Stephen Hunter (Bombur)) on thier quest to reclaim Erebor while being hunted by Azog the Defiler (Manu Bennet). They hide in Beorn’s house who warns them to avoid the eleves and head to Mirkwood. Before they head into Mirkwood, Gandalf leaves to go to Dol Guldur to find the source of the new evil and upon arrival partners with Radagast (Sylvester McCoy). Now without Gandalf, Bilbo and the 12 dwarves must get to the Lonely Mountains while dealing with elves led by Thranduil (Lee Pace) with Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and a dangerous town led by the master (Stephen Fry) with the help of Bard(Luke Evans).
The Hobbit : Desolation of Smaug is fantastic. While it is very very long clocking in at around 2hr 47min, it is not slow paced for most of the movie. There are times where it will slow down but what is happening is very engaging so it is only somewhat noticeable and not boring. It does slow down towards the end fighting Smaug but that is the only time.
Another reason this movie is fantastic, are the awesome battle sequences. They are a lot of fun to watch. The standout sequence is the barrel scene when they are escaping from the dwarves kingdom. It has some really cool moments involving the barrels and how weapons are used and does not overstay it’s welcome.
The adventure aspect is also great. Just like in the first one, the cinematography is excellent. It is gorgeous and suits Middle-Earth perfectly. The sweeping shots are fantastic and the adventure feel is huge.Adding to the adventure feel is the wonderful CGI by the excellent WETA. It looks great and there are some very cool moments of CGI with spiders, dwarves and one dragon.
That dragon is Smaug. Smaug is phenomenal. The CGI on him is excellent. It is so cool to watch him in his various states and as the technological achievment that he is. It is one of the best CGI creations of the year. His voice is also great and when Bilbo and Smaug engage in a dialogue, it is some of the best moments of the year. This is due to the acting and CGI.
Freeman is again great as Bilbo and supplies many of the comedic elements. The dwarves also give strong performances with each of the actors fufilling their characters role. Pace, Bloom and Lily are all strong as the 3 elves the company encounters, even with a weird love triangle between Tauriel and Kili. Luke Evans and Stephen Fry during the Lake-Town section also pull of their roles with conviction. This all builds up to the show stealing Smaug. Cumberbatch (providing voice and mo cap as mentioned eariler) is fantastic. His voice is great as is the motions Smaug does throughout his section of the movie. Overall, The Hobbit : Desolation is a fantastic well made and well acted sequel.
The Hobbit : Desolation of Smaug is rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening image. I give The Hobbit : Desolation of Smaug an A.
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