Rent The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

'An Unexpected Journey' - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug review by Milstead On Movies

What was Peter Jackson thinking when he subjected us to the first film, which was practically two & a half hours of character building and the odd tribute to The Lord Of The Rings. The only scene of note was when Bilbo Baggins discovers Gollum & the 'ring', which we already knew by watching the LOTR trilogy.

In honesty, you could skip the first movie and be justly rewarded. You'd miss out on a bit of back story but you could easily pick it up and enjoy some brilliant scenes of action and adventure.

Bilbo, Gandalf & the dwarves are continuing their quest across Middle Earth from the first film and face peril at every step, across an enchanted forest, a kingdom of surly wood elves (including Legolas - Orlando Bloom), a floating village, before they eventually penetrate the dragon's (Smaug) lair.

As in the previous film and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, meticulous effort and sweeping photography transports you to the mythical Middle Earth convincingly and the visual effects, makeup, costumes and production design are as good as they can get, although it's a shame that CGI has replaced makeup when bringing some orcs to the screen. The CGI animation to bring Smaug to life however, is top notch and Benedict Cumberbatch was a very good casting decision for the dragon's powerful, creepy voice.

The ending sets up the third film nicely, although it's a shame about the crap Ed Sheeran song ('I See Fire') which plays over the end credits.

A Smörgåsbord of Special Effects - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug review by KG

Amazing animation and special effects, good adaptation from the book, looking forward to the third installment.

Better Than 1. - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug review by GI

The second film in The Hobbit trilogy is a darker film than the first but it's overly long and lacks the cohesion of the original trilogy leaving a feeling that the film meanders along. As basically a chase film this often renders the film tedious especially in the attempts to be ever faithful to the source novel and the other works of Tolkien and yet also adding additional characters and events made up for the film. But if you're a fan then there are enough elements to offer an entertaining adaptation. Peter Jackson knows how to present Middle-earth by now and creates a fantasy world that often is a delight to behold. Martin Freeman remains a delight as he was in the first Hobbit film and Ian McKellen portrays Gandalf with aplomb. There's too many characters here though with too much backstory to absorb effectively and even though the Extended edition is a more whole narrative it doesn't lift the film enough to put it up there with the original LOTR trilogy. The final battle with Smaug the dragon, malevolently voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, is a great climax to this film although the expected cliffhanger ending in readiness for the next film is little underwhelming. Better than the first Hobbit film but not on a par with LOTR.