The Hobbit-The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit Part 2

Summary:

After successfully crossing over (and under) the Misty Mountains, Thorin and Company must seek aid from a powerful stranger before taking on the dangers of Mirkwood Forest-without their Wizard. If they reach the human settlement of Lake-town it will be time for the hobbit Bilbo Baggins to fulfill his contract with the dwarves. The party must complete the journey to Lonely Mountain and burglar Baggins must seek out the Secret Door that will give them access to the hoard of the dragon Smaug. And, where has Gandalf got off to? And what is his secret business to the south?

Plot:

So I didn’t have a lot of good expectations from this storyline, mainly because of the first movie and because they’re dragging a 400 page book out into three movies, but I was pleasantly surprised. I’d heard many good things about this movie, but I assumed it was for the cinematography. The story follows the book pretty well, but unlike most book-to-movie adaptations they have added parts instead of not including some. I really liked the fact that they added Gandalf’s story, which was not included in the book. You only hear about what he was up to in the first part of the Lord of the Rings books. Also, it was fun watching this movie, after reading the Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring and knowing what was going to happen. The action was way more intense than in the first movie (which mainly consisted of the dwarves and Bilbo walking). I didn’t like some of the parts they had changed, but the parts that they kept the same were pretty cool.

Characters:

My favorite part of this movie is definitely the elves. They are beautiful, graceful, slightly cold and stand-offish, and I found them fascinating to watch. Bilbo kind of disappeared in the first part of the movie, but got his chance in the spotlight in the end. I didn’t like Thorin’s mean and selfish portrayal in this movie, he lacked the royal, slightly proud, but still good qualities that he had in the book, and just came of as a pompous and self-centered person/dwarf. Smaug didn’t look like I imagined him, I feel like they could’ve added more gems and gold to his chest, as Tolkien described in the book. Overall the wonderful elves balanced out some of the mistakes they made with Thorin, and I enjoyed the characters.

Cinematography:

Wonderful, some parts were better than others, but overall it was great. The colors were rich, the orcs and spiders etc. looked real (and pretty creepy) and the Smaug was magnificent (and really, really big).

Who should watch this:

PG-13, mainly for violence. It’s not bloody or gory (except for some orcs getting their heads chopped off), but it is pretty frightening. If you thought the first one was good, but lacked action you should see this one. If you liked the Lord of the Rings movies, then you might like this. I suggest skipping the first one if you’re familiar with the story.

My rating:

I really liked this movie, and I really hope the last one lives up to it, because I don’t know what they’re going to use for a storyline in that one. It’s not a perfect adaption of the book, but it’s pretty good. So, 4/5.

Quote:

Where does your journey end? You seek that which would bestow upon you the right to rule. A quest to reclaim a homeland, and slay a dragon!