The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) – Review

Where to watch The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

4 Stars

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the best of the years’ blockbusters. This is the ideal mixture of commercial and artistic storytelling. After 14 years I’ve finally succumbed to the Tolkien/Jackson phenomenon, and Smaug in no small part has been the catalyst for this (late to the game) convert. I realized at about the thirty minute mark that I like Martin Freeman a whole lot more than the intensely eyed Elijah Wood, who carried the look of someone caught between happy and sad through three monotonous films. While this is a darker toned chapter, as has been the case for part two of any trilogy since Empire set the precedent in 1980, Desolation of Smaug is still funnier, more action packed and overall far more warm and cheerful than any installment in the previous Lord of the Rings trilogy.

After an initial flashback sequence, the narrative picks up directly where the first story ended. Avoiding the clutches of an evil vengeance minded Orc king, Bilbo Baggins and his pack of thirteen dwarf warriors including Thorin Oakenshield, rightful heir to a kingdom of riches currently lorded over by a vicious fire-spewing dragon, continue their quest through enchanted landscapes. Making time for stops in a twisted magical forest and escaping imprisonment by the Elf king, the broad of dwarfs and their nibble footed hobbit companion steadily proceed on their mission to reclaim the throne of Erebor.

A complainant can be lobbied than Ian Mckellan’s majestic wizard Gandolf the great, an ever-present figure in the last picture, is sidelined in this outing in favor for some newly created characters, courtesy of Jackson and his screenwriting team. I have heard Rings pundits cry afoul that an elf/dwarf love angle is close to trampling on sacrament. In reality it adds an otherwise missing emotional heartbeat to what late film critic Roger Ebert use to describe as ‘a bruised forearm movie’. He rationed that by the end of such a movie, your forearm would be black and blue from your date clutching it through the nonstop intense moments. I can assure you that The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug fits that description accurately, and for the first time ever I can say, I’m looking forward to the next Hobbit movie.

Director: Peter Jackson
Stars: Martin Freeman, Luke Evans, Orlando Bloom