The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug continues the story from the first Hobbit movie. A band of Dwarves accompanied by Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit and Gandalf the Wizard resume their quest to reclaim Erebor, the Dwarves’ homeland, from Smaug the evil dragon. Bilbo Baggins has a mysterious magical ring that allows him to be invisible. Director Peter Jackson cleverly keeps all of the subplots spinning for the film’s two hours and forty minutes. Tolkien purists will quibble about the addition of the warrior Elf, Tauriel (played by Evangeline Lilly), but not me. I have a weakness for feisty redheads wielding a deadly bow. Of course, the conclusion leaves the audience hanging…and yearning for the third and final installment of The Hobbit. GRADE: A
Yes, Lilly is definitely hot.
I think the biggest miss is the absence of Gollum.
Jeff, I’m sure Peter Jackson is sensitive to Tolkien fans. He doesn’t want to change the story too much. Gollum has a role in THE HOBBIT. Taking more liberties with the story might be counter-productive. But, you’re right, Gollum is a great character!
Lots of our friends are going tonight. Although we are in the midst of a snowstorm.
The “critics and reviewers ” have been giving this C+ or at best B- scores, complaining about it’s length, slow scenes, departure from the book in plot and characters, and it’s bloated three film approach to a one book story. I have to agree with that last one, when I heard Jackson was making three films I was unhappy, I thought maybe two but three is too much.
However I am waiting to see the Hobbit story until all three films are out in expanded director’s cut, blu-ray super HD. That’s probably two years from now. I was gifted the first film when it came out but it still has the shrink wrap on it.
Patti, we’re supposed to be hit with 6-8 inches to snow today. That’s on top of the six inches we already have on the ground. But, friends want to go out tonight for dinner and a movie. They’re driving so we’ll probably go.
Rick, I set the bar very low for THE HOBBIT movies. I knew Peter Jackson was going to draw the story out to three movies so there would be plenty of discursive subplots. I love the look of these movies! And THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG really entertained me. Ignore those elitist critics!
I’m with you, definitely a “A” movie and oh so much fun! So glad Peter Jackson is at the helm for these, despite how much I like Del Toro. It wouldn’t feel right to me to have someone else’s stamp on Middle-earth this close to the LOTR adaptations.
Carl, Peter Jackson just seems to channel Tolkien in these movies. He has the right vision for films like this.