This is a hard one to write, make no mistake! I felt a bit off on my own with An Unexpected Journey, as I seemed to be part of a small minority that tried to embrace that film on its own terms, despite its imperfections. If anything it was a heartfelt love letter to Middle Earth, say what you will.
Advance word on The Desolation of Smaug was extremely positive, so I was giddy with anticipation and chomping at the bit for more of the adventures of Bilbo and company - and if you have any fondness for Peter Jackson's first Hobbit installment, you're likely to enjoy this one even more - there's no question it's worth seeing theatrically. But my overall reaction to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a very mixed one.
There is so much to admire in this film! The work of countless artisans and design wizards - special effects that boggle the mind. Much of the magic previously conjured-up in Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy certainly makes an appearance here. This is a gorgeous production. But seeing The Desolation of Smaug is a bit like being served a seventy-five pound lobster. The excessiveness and elephantine expansion of beloved sequences has been allowed to over-inflate with unchecked abandon. If ever there was a film that could have benefited from the objective input of a concerned producer or editor, it's The Desolation of Smaug. Virtually no scene unfolds with the mantra of less-is-more.
In part two of Jackson's Hobbit trilogy we meet shape-changing bear-man Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt), depicted here as Middle Earth's own Wolverine, right down to the haircut. Beorn helps our travelers elude pursuing Orcs, still Captained by the fearsome Azog. Burglar and dwarves cut through Mirkwood forest, only to be set upon by battalions of hideous spiders. Escape only lands them in the hands of the Mirkwood elves, where we learn Rings heartthrob Legolas hails from. This Legolas is a much darker, warrior-type than we previously knew, beholden to his dour and sardonic father, elf-King Thranduil. Bilbo's company gains an ally in elven warrior Tauriel - a Jackson creation not out of Tolkien, but a welcome addition. Evangeline Lilly is strong and engaging here, practically the only female character on view, somewhat similar to the Eowyn role in The Two Towers. She's a breath of fresh air after the long slog with umpteen bearded dwarves. Eventually, the party arrives at Lake Town and from there, Erebor - The Lonely Mountain, and Bilbo's face-to-face encounter with the titular fire drake.
When we finally do meet Smaug, he doesn't disappoint. Smaug himself is wonderfully rendered (once you get past a long section seen through Bilbo's twilight "ring-vision"). Benedict Cumberbatch gives Smaug tremendous personality, malice, and vanity - he makes Smaug a character, first and foremost - all ego and armor-plated scales. But the dragon scenes in Erebor just go on and on, ultimately wringing every last drop of suspense from things by over familiarity and too many chases and contraptions. Similarly, the barrel escape from Mirkwood has been turned into a Six Flags Great Adventure attraction. It's an endless sequence and Jackson conjures up memories of similarly unchecked directorial excess in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, reminiscent of the eye-rolling sight gags involving one unrealistic waterfall plummet or jungle vine-swing after another. The dragon Smaug has an Achilles' Heel, and so does Jackson - he's way too hung-up on elaborate Rube Goldberg mechanics that try so hard to be clever and kinetic that all credibility is strained beyond belief, with the barrel scenes and Smaug finale being the most oppressive offenders. The film easily feels over thirty-minutes too long, thanks to the indulgences of these scenes, which feel more like video game sequences than cinema. Likewise, there's way too much convoluted business going on in Lake Town, with Stephen Fry's Falstaffian turn and an assistant named Alfrid, who seems to be a complete clone of Brad Dourif's superior Grima Wormtongue in Rings.
There are excellent scenes in between all this excess, however. Sequences with Gandalf exploring the ruins of Dol Guldur are splendid and evoke the same thrills one remembers from Lord of the Rings. Lake Town hero Bard (Luke Evans) shows promise, and should be the focus of plenty of action in the third film, There and Back Again.
The Desolation of Smaug is challenging. I've found that subsequent viewings of An Unexpected Journey have only increased my affection for the film, and I hope that same thing happens here. It's a rousing epic made with only the biggest helpings of love for the source material on the part of the filmmakers. Caveats now said, I do recommend seeing it in a theater, but if I had my druthers, I'd definitely skip the unnecessary 3D. The movie's color palate is so gray and so much of it consists of indoor sequences, it feels like a black and white film - so 3D only serves to deliver a dimmer image, when things are already far too dim enough.
The reviews and box office for Smaug seem more energized than the first film, so I hope my enthusiasm only grows over time. I'm certainly in awe of the craftsmanship and design prowess on display here - I just wish there was a much firmer hand in the editing - with both the dailies and the screenplay.
Tolkien said it himself - Hobbits tend to be a bit over-stuffed in their mid-sections. This mid-section is certainly faithful to the author on that score.
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