The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (2013)
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Critics Consensus: While still slightly hamstrung by "middle chapter" narrative problems and its formidable length, The Desolation of Smaug represents a more confident, exciting second chapter for the Hobbit series.
Critics Consensus: While still slightly hamstrung by "middle chapter" narrative problems and its formidable length, The Desolation of Smaug represents a more confident, exciting second chapter for the Hobbit series.
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The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.(c) WB- Rating:
- PG-13 (for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images)
- Genre:
- Action & Adventure , Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Directed By:
- Peter Jackson
- Written By:
- Peter Jackson , J.R.R. Tolkien , Fran Walsh , Guillermo del Toro , Philippa Boyens
- In Theaters:
- Dec 13, 2013 Wide
- On DVD:
- Apr 8, 2014
- US Box Office:
- $258.4M
Cast
-
Ian McKellen
as Gandalf
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Critic Reviews for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
All Critics (215) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (159) | Rotten (56) | DVD (2)
The tale has no emotional resonance, and the thinness of the plot (only five of the book's chapters are adapted here) and the colorless depictions of the leading characters do it no favors.
Be forewarned: Whether through ego, avarice, or unchecked enthusiasm, Jackson has wandered deep into the realm of fan fiction.
With the introductions and bag-packing out of the way from the first film, the new movie jumps straight into the action and doesn't relent until the cliffhanger ending almost three hours later.
For the casual but compelled moviegoer, The Desolation of Smaug is a fine improvement over the first offering. Tolkien aficionados may feel otherwise.
Desolation of Smaug looks as dreary as the title would lead you to believe. The whole thing lingers in the memory as piles of sludge and ash.
I'm not an aficionado of J.R.R. Tolkien's wonderworlds and I was bored with the first Hobbit movie. All this is by way of saying I quite liked its sequel and the second in the trilogy.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is technically "better" than The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in the same way Attack of the Clones was technically "better" than The Phantom Menace.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is another grand entry in the Tolkien saga, raising the emotional and physical stakes while revealing more of the sinister forces that we know will ultimately come to threaten the entire world.
"(There) seems to be more action this time around. It's much more thrilling and is, again, pertinent, necessary action. And the character moments just work better in this installment."
Smaug slept through the first Hobbit film, and boy was I jealous.
For all the great effects it garners, [it] is a cold, and monotonous epic that borders on fan fiction.
The dragon is battled by dwarf, elf and Hobbit in a semi-decipherable battle of industrial de-evolution. Gold seethes down like the sweetest Caramelo candy bars passed down from the Gods. Oh, the beauty of the fallen, fiscal world.
It's these impulses of Jackson (amped up action and crass disrespect for the text) that spoiled the film; there's no let up, no pause for breath, no pause even for meals.
As usual, the dialogue includes certain important-seeming nouns which bushy beards and thick theatrical accents make difficult to discern.
A terrific middle chapter with plenty of action, excitement and fun.
An entertaining adventure with some truly masterful moments, but they still fail to justify the nearly three-hour running time.
Whatever hiccups there are, Freeman continues to be note-perfect, and Jackson does deliver on the action and builds a great deal of momentum in the final stretch.
Nearly everyone in the film is creaking under the weight of the past.
It's natural to be repelled by Jackson's commercial- and franchise-minded motives ... but, ultimately, he delivers escapist entertainment that functions as the cinematic equivalent of comfort food.
For as much as Smaug is a technical improvement over its predecessor, the screenplay is still disappointingly shallow.
More tightly paced and action-oriented than its predecessor
Even more entertaining than its predecessor, "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" continues J.R.R. Tolkien's journey with fleshed-out characters and action sequences that will bring fans back to their beloved Middle Earth.
When Jackson sticks to the game plan Tolkien laid out for him, amazing happens. Yet when Jackson strays like he has during key moments here, you can be forgiven if thought this chapter was titled "The Desolation of Tolkien".
Finally, there is the great Smaug, menacingly voiced by Bennedict Cumberbatch with a mixture of menace and humor.
Serves as the transitional movie between the introduction and the conclusion, but the ending to this movie is too abrupt.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of watching the movie, but I felt a bit disengaged with the story, as if it only existed as a device to hold the big pretty visuals together.
Audience Reviews for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
The story continues. The sequel has a bit of a faster pace than the original, which was welcome. The original story is still stretched a little thinly though and the addition of extra characters and events is sacrilege (or so my more nerdy friends tell me). I liked the Stephen Fry and Sylvester McCoy cameos very much and I thought the Smaug special effects were rather good. I liked the film but it's beginning to get a little samey. You've either seen it in the last film or in TLOTR. The Smaug scene at the end of the film is the big pay off and obviously what was concentrated on most because all the other action films are over the top, ridiculous, cartoon-like headaches. The barrels down the river scene made me feel a little bit sick, the effects were laughable in places and I thought the whole thing was utterly unnecessary. Seriously, compare the special effects to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the Dragon bit) and it doesn't hold up at all. All part of the filler I guess. I liked it but cut out 30 minutes or so and I would have loved it.
http://cinephilecrocodile.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/the-hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-dir.html
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
another average and disappointing hobbit film, but for opposite reasons to the last installment. like the last film the acting was split and the effects no more than passable, and the film was entertaining and the action sequences fun to watch. however, whereas the last one slumped along and failed to gain any momentum by way of dragging from one scene to the next, this film failed to capitalize on momentum by moving far too quickly once it started to gain any. each time i felt a great moment coming, like those so often found in LOTR, the scene was dropped for yet another unnecessary story development that served to do little more than clutter the film. overall, good but found wanting.
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Super Reviewer
An action-packed, improved second chapter of "The Hobbit" trilogy, chronicling the journey Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellan), and a group of dwarves undertake in trying to take back a city from a ruthless dragon named Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch). Where the first chapter felt like a lot of "filler" material thrown into place at a rather scattered rate, this film actually does a great job pushing the story further and coloring its characters much better than the first movie did. Freeman continues to knock it out of the park as Bilbo, now surging with confidence, while Cumberbatch's voice lends a real villainous tone to the story. It still plods along at times, but the ending is downright fantastic, with a cliffhanger for the ages capped off in haunting fashion.
MoreSuper Reviewer
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Quotes
- Smaug:
- Come out. Don't be shy. Step into the light.
- Bard the Bowman:
- Folk in this town are struggling. Times are hard. Food is scarce.
- Alfrid:
- It's not my problem.
- Bard the Bowman:
- And when the people hear that the Master is dumping fish back into the lake? When the rioting starts? Will it be your problem then?
- Gandalf:
- Where is your master? Where is he?
- Thranduil:
- Do not speak to me of dragon fire for I have encountered it myself.
- Thranduil:
- Fortunes of the world will rise and fall, but here in this kingdom we will endure.
- Bard the Bowman:
- The king beneath the mountains, the king of cavern stone, the lord of silver fountains, shall come onto his own!
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