The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Smaug. My brother and I giggled every time the dragon's name was pronounced properly, it just sounds so odd. But that has nothing to do with the movie. While this review my sound like I didn't like the movie, that's not the case. I did like, just not as much as the first one. I guess the biggest problem between the two is that going into the first one, I didn't really have any expectations and really enjoyed it. This time, I was really looking forward to it and was kind of let down.
First off, the first half of the movie was kind of boring and the second half was a little too CGI-heavy. The thing I always liked about the Lord of the Rings trilogy was how real it felt. Sure, there was a lot of CGI, but for the most part, all of the characters were actual actors. But in this one, almost every orc was computer-generated and that was something the LotR films didn't do. While this movie wasn't as bad as the Star Wars prequels in its use of green screens (to the point that the acting suffered from its overuse), it was still used a little too much. Every fight scene seemed like nothing but a cool scene from a video game and while it looked cool, it was lacking.
Second, there were too many pointless side stories. Basically, Peter Jackson took a lot of liberties with the book just so that he could stretch this thing into three movies. He added back story that just wasn't in the book and it truly wasn't needed to make a great movie (especially the unneeded love triangle between the chick elf, Legolas, and one of the dwarves). Also, everything that happened when the group got into the Lonely Mountain other than Bilbo confronting Smaug was added just to make a cool fight scene between the dragon and the good guys. Once again, while the big fight scene looked cool, it kind of took away from the books.
Lastly, I knew there was going to be a third movie and that they would have to end this movie before everything was resolved, but the point where this movie ended was just cruel. I don't want to give it away, but when the credits started rolling, I'm fairly sure everyone in the audience groaned at exactly the same time.
Otherwise, I enjoyed this movie. The acting was great and a select few of the side stories were pretty good. For some reason, Gandolf was only in the movie for like 10 minutes because he decided to venture away from our group very early on and they showed what he was up to for only a couple of minutes after that. The addition of Lost's Evangeline Lilly to the cast as the warrior elf, Tauriel, was pleasant and I think she did a very good job. And for some reason, I really liked the guy they cast as Bard, who helps Bilbo and his gang get to the Lonely Mountain. His name is Luke Evans (who was beat out by Ben Affleck to be the new Batman) and he was great in the movie. Also, I still think that they couldn't have cast a better actor than Martin Freeman to play Bilbo. And while Freeman may have been the title character, the MVP of the movie was definitely Smaug, voiced by the awesomely named Benedict Cumberbatch. I couldn't have been more pleased with the way they portrayed Smaug and Cumberbatch's voice perfectly matched the greedy dragon.
In conclusion, I suggest you go see it. While I had a few complaints, the movie as a whole was enjoyable and well worth seeing in the theater.
Fart Rating (out of 5): 4.0 Farts
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