Movies: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Score:  **** out of ***** (B+)

Long Story Short:  Part two of Peter Jackson's three film take on The Hobbit is now in theaters.  No worries of "dragging" that some (incorrectly, IMO) ascribed to the first film to be found here.  But it may have swung too far the other way:  while it has lots of fun action scenes, The Desolation of Smaug mostly neglects its biggest star, Bilbo (Freeman).  Add in a disappointing climax and, while it's still a solid adventure in Middle Earth, it ranks as my least favorite of Jackson's adaptations.


I'm back with some more blockbuster action - another part two of a franchise, no less!  Coming soon:  I'll be seeing American Hustle (from the director of Silver Linings Playbook) this weekend, and hopefully, Anchorman 2 not long after that.  I've also been blitzing through a number of films I missed in the theater via my Netflix subscription; brief summaries of those will appear in my year-end review.  You can read my review of An Unexpected Journey to get background on that film and my feelings on Jackson's Tolkien-verse as a whole.  Suffice it to say here, this was one of my most eagerly anticipated films of the year.  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was directed by Peter Jackson and stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, et. al.

The action picks up just about right where it left off at the end of An Unexpected Journey:  Bilbo the Hobbit (Freeman), Gandalf the wizard (McKellen), and the band of dwarves are headed for the Lonely Mountain to reclaim the old dwarven kingdom, while being pursued by orcs.  It isn't long before a new menace (not seen before in any of Jackson's films) arrives, but the group manages to escape and get a small breather.  Then, as in LotR, there is a parting of ways:  Gandalf leaves to investigate ominous signs, while Bilbo and the dwarves trek through a dark, mysterious forest.  Among other obstacles are the elves, where audiences are introduced to the female warrior Tauriel (Lilly) and reintroduced to the dashing Legolas (Bloom).

Once Bilbo and the dwarves part ways with the elves, they find themselves still pursued by the persistent orcs.  Unfortunately, there is a giant lake between them and the Lonely Mountain.  Bard, a denizen of Lake Town (literally, a town built on top of the lake), is persuaded to give them passage.  Just when it seems that they've finally caught a break, though, Bilbo and the dwarves - and Gandalf, many miles away - face their greatest challenges yet.

As in An Unexpected Journey, part two of The Hobbit features a large cast.  Martin Freeman returns as Bilbo and, when given the chance, reinforces the fact that he is the best actor to portray a Hobbit yet (and that's no offense to Elijah Wood, et. al.).  The problem is that he gets significantly less time to shine in this chapter; however, he still has all the cleverness, humor and does all the little things that made him great in part one.  Ian McKellen gets a surprisingly large part - of course, Gandalf is old hat (literally and figuratively) for him now as one of the icons of fantasy film.  It takes a little while for Thorin, leader of the dwarves (as played by Richard Armitage), to get his time in the spotlight.  When he does, Richard shows that he has gotten the born-leader persona down even better now, and the script really helps to reveal his character's strengths and weaknesses.

Two elves play significant roles in The Desolation of Smaug.  Primary is Evangeline Lilly (Kate from Lost) as Tauriel.  She is a welcome addition - and not just as one of the series' few female characters.  Evangeline portrays her convincingly as a fierce, effective warrior; newcomer to the outside world and thus excited yet somewhat naive; and possessing of the warmth of (some of) the elves of Middle Earth.  Unfortunately, she's also saddled with a boring love triangle.  Orlando Bloom's Legolas is a welcome addition to the cast - even if he mostly just kicks orc butt (in the coolest ways possible).  Luke Evans plays Bard, the Lake Town guide.  I know he's a major part of the book, but... bleh.  Aside from being an Orlando Bloom clone, he's almost entirely generic and bland, just like Lake Town itself (more on that later).  And the rest:  Stephen Fry as Master of Lake Town (almost makes the Lake Town scenes interesting)... Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug (nice voice work on the dragon - but there are other problems that I'll get to)... the other dwarves (not nearly as mischievous this time, sadly - only one to get major attention is Kili).

Not enough action for you in An Unexpected Journey?  Then The Desolation of Smaug is right up your alley, although it sacrifices other elements - perhaps too much - in doing so.  This film is definitely a roller coaster ride, with a number of different sets and a variety of action.  Much of it is exciting; maybe this is just my personal taste, but I loved just about any action involving the elves.  Despite being a bit over the top, and goofier than LotR action, a barrel-ride sequence in the first half of the film is my favorite, pure fun and smiles - while gripping your seat.  Yet the "crown jewel" - the showdown with Smaug the dragon - was pretty disappointing.  I love how they ominously set it up, but once it gets going it sets off one of my action pet peeves.  Smaug could and should have obliterated Bilbo and the dwarves a thousand times, but supposedly due to the dragon's "arrogance" or, worse, anything the victims did, they survived.  There's a lot of suspension of disbelief that goes into watching a fantasy film, but when a freaking 100-ton dragon tries and fails for twenty minutes to fry a Hobbit and some dwarves, it gets boring and exasperating.

***

While it's disappointing that the climax of The Desolation of Smaug falls so short, the film overall is still very solid (although not as good as part one).  This is still Peter Jackson's Tolkien-verse, and even if it's stranger than ever, it's still a place to behold.  Bilbo/Freeman and Gandalf/McKellen are as strong of leads as you can ask for, though it's disappointing to see Bilbo's role in particular diminish.  New faces and places pretty much balance out as far as good and bad - good being the elves, Mirkwood, and Tauriel (and Legolas, though he's not technically new), the bad being Lake Town and Bard.  Sadly, Lake Town and Bard figure to play much more prominent roles in the last film.  Yes, the concept of a town on the lake is neat, but there isn't anything else to make it special like the Hobbits' Shire, or the elves' Rivendell or Mirkwood, or the other humans' Rohan or Gondor.  I should repeat as a counterweight to this negativity that most of the action in this film is sensational (including a Gandalf duel), and some of the things they show briefly are great, too.  If you're looking for an entertaining time at the theater, you can't go wrong with either this one or Catching Fire.  I can't help but feel apprehensive about the third Hobbit film, based on the way this ended, but if anyone can pull it off, it's Peter Jackson.