It seems logical to make three movies out of the three books
that comprise the Lord of the Rings,
Tolkien’s masterful story of Middle Earth, but to make three movies out of one
story, The Hobbit, seems like pure
avarice. That being said, I liked “The Desolation of Smaug” more than I liked
the first, An Unexpected Journey, because
so much of that movie was filler. Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins and Ian
McKellen’s Gandalf the Grey are back along with the 13 dwarves led by Richard
Armitage’s Thorin Oakenshield, who are all on a quest to help the dwarves
reclaim their kingdom of Erebor from the dragon Smaug. The dwarves are being
chased by evil Orcs and they must pass through the enchanted forest of
Mirkwood, where they tussle with giant CGI spiders. Then they’re imprisoned in
the stronghold of the woodland elves. Their escape, in barrels carried by
churning river rapids, is one of the movie’s great action sequences. Finally,
they get to the village of Laketown, where they prepare for their confrontation
with Smaug. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time getting here.
Much of this movie has the intensity of a good video game,
but there’s also a thematic subtext here, of good vs. evil and honor vs.
treachery. And Bilbo spends much of this movie trying to resist the temptation
of the ring he found in An Unexpected
Journey, which holds both power and corruption. Jackson has also added
Legolas (Orlando Bloom’s character from LOTR)
and added a female elf named Tauriel, played by Evangeline Lily. These two add
a lot to the action sequences. The film’s greatest strength is its lavish
visuals, from the richly realized architecture of elves and dwarves to the vast
treasure hoard of gold that Smaug so carefully guards. Unfortunately, like “The
Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “The Desolation of Smaug” ends with a cliffhanger.
12/13/13
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