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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the second in a three-part series, since director Peter Jackson wanted to turn a small book into another huge franchise, although with the visuals on display it’s entirely justified.
In what is most definitely a darker installment than last time, the pace is picked up early on as Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Thorin (Richard Armitage) and all the other dwarves go into the Kingdom of Erebor, on through Mirkwood, then Esgaroth and Dale with a view to going head-to-head with dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Lonely Mountain and to retrive the Arkenstone, a dwarfish symbol of kingly rule. And for a major plus, there’s no songs to sit through this time.
Gandalf (Ian McKellen) also has his little side journey where he departs from the diminutive crew for a time, and while the content of that didn’t feature in the book, I understand it did come up in the appendicies and, as before, Jackson’s vision was to bring as much of Tolkein’s work to the screen as possible. But as I’ve said before, most of my ‘Hobbit’ knowledge comes from what I remembered from the 1982 ZX Spectrum game since, like every book-to-film adaption, apart from 1984 which I was forced to read while at school, I have never read the book and rely on the movie to tell the story. I just don’t read books. I’ve tried, but my mind wanders and I soon get bored.
There’s far more action in The Desolation of Smaug with many great scenes, particularly the giant spiders, the barrel chase and each appearance from the Orcs, too. I won’t go into detail about exactly what happens because that’s for you to discover and I let each section work its magic and impress me accordingly. Yes, there are some segments which feel they repeat themselves once or twice a bit, but then there are others which move on quicker than I thought they would. It still could cut around 15 minutes out without losing anything, but it’s still a definite must see on the big screen.
Again, it does take a little time to get into the 48fps filming process again, but that’s because I haven’t seen a film made that way since The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and I’m unlikely to again until There And Back Again in June next year. Last time round, I saw complaints that “it makes everything look like a film set” and another that read “I could see Gandalf’s contact lenses”. Okay, well, the light did shine off his eyes a bit, but I wouldn’t have thought about his eye-wear had I not read that, and as for looking at a film set… erm… I hate to break it to them but… Middle Earth isn’t real so it can *only* have been a film set!
Go to page 2 for more thoughts on the 48fps filming process.
Getting back into it, I noticed mainly that, especially during panning shots, everything seemed to pass by a lot more quickly than it normally does – rather like the CGI in a video game, naturally because there’s twice as many frames on view. This can be disconcerting initially, but you soon get into it and forget about any initial issues and, knowing this was intentional I just sat back and lapped it up.
There were many wonderful sights to behold, particularly the detail on Smaug from his firey belly to his gnarly face. Such detail that you’ll never see as well again on any smaller screen. And, like last time, the sights were distracting me from paying attention to any plot developments so when there was the odd scene of chit chat and little else, I was still gawping at the luscious scenery. As well as the luscious Evangeline Lilly (below) as Tauriel 😉
Cast-wise, everyone does a great job as always. There seems to be more for Ken Stott to do as Balin, this time round, while Benedict Cumberbatch excels at being the mighty and devilish Smaug.
As the film went on, I was wondering how There And Back Again could be carried as a whole film if it was simply the dwarves all returning to their homes. However, by the end, I could see Peter Jackson and co. have set things up nicely for a cracking finale.
This is definitely a film to take the family to over Xmas and New Year. It has more action but is still very long. It might be a little too much for young children, though, as it’s a 12A and earns that from a number of violent battle scenes which include decapitation and arrows through the head, but since this happens to fantasy creatures, the BBFC will allow a low certificate.
Cert: 
Running time: 161 minutes
Year: 2012
Released: December 13th 2013
Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Redcode RAW (5K))
Viewed at: Odeon Cinema, Manchester Printworks
Rating: 8/10
Director: Peter Jackson
Producers: Carolynne Cunningham, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Zane Weiner
Screenplay: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro (based on the novel by JRR Tolkien)
Music: Howard Shore
Cast:
Gandalf: Ian McKellen
Bilbo Baggins: Martin Freeman
Thorin Oakenshield: Richard Armitage
Balin: Ken Stott
Dwalin: Graham McTavish
Bifur: William Kircher
Bofur: James Nesbitt
Bombur: Stephen Hunter
Fili: Dean O’Gorman
Kili: Aidan Turner
Oin: John Callen
Gloin: Peter Hambleton
Nori: Jed Brophy
Dori: Mark Hadlow
Ori: Adam Brown
Legolas: Orlando Bloom
Tauriel: Evangeline Lilly
Thranduil: Lee Pace
Galadriel: Cate Blanchett
Smaug: Benedict Cumberbatch
Beorn: Mikael Persbrandt
Radagast: Sylvester McCoy
Bard: Luke Evans
Master of Laketown: Stephen Fry
Spider (voice): Brian Sergent
Spider (voice): Peter Vere-Jones
Dain Ironfoot: Billy Connolly (uncredited)
Saruman: Christopher Lee (uncredited)
Elrond: Hugo Weaving (uncredited)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.
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