The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
2013  PG-13  FANTASY  2h 41min
CAST— Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Orlando Bloom
MUSIC— Howard Shore  DIRECTOR— Peter Jackson  BASED ON— The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (novel), by J. R. R. Tolkien

     And now, back to Middle-earth. This adventure picks up where The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) left off. Bilbo Baggins is still a would-be burglar, still hanging with Dwarves and wizards, and is still short. The Dwarves are still trekking towards their homeland, determined to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the villainous dragon Smaug. But they sure take their sweet time doing so. They are wrongly imprisoned by Elves, they make their escape and travel to Lake-town (situated on a lake, get it?). There they earn respect from the townsfolk, battle Orcs, and emerge from toilets (not in that order, though). The first two acts of the film drag on and on, but the third act is where the money is (quite literally). They traverse through the desolate Lonely Mountain, sending Bilbo to burgle. We finally meet the keeper of the ill-gotten treasure, a gi-normous fire-breathing dragon whom Bilbo must sweet talk if he is to make it out alive. A weak entry in the Middle-earth saga; though entertaining the Hobbit films just don’t have the impact offered by the Lord of the Rings series. Sad. Extended version also available.
OUR RATING— ** ½
PRECEDED BY— The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
FOLLOWED BY— The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)