I need to preface this review with a disclaimer. I have read The Hobbit and enjoyed it. However, I read it later in life. I was introduced to the story when I was 8 living in Spain when I saw the cartoon for the first time. It caught my imagination and I loved it, but I don't have the emotion attachment that a LOT of people have toward the Lord of the Rings books. So, for me, I really don't care whether or not the movie follows the book exactly. There has been a lot of ballyhoo over the additions that Peter Jackson has added to these three new movies. I do not find it sacrilegious like others. That said, I liked the new movie. It has redeemed itself from the first Hobbit film. The first was long, plodding, and not a lot really happens. A few have made a very astute observation that the new movies basically look and feel like the old ones. This one, however, is taut, fun and really zips along. However, it is a tad long, a bit of a butt buster.
So, The Desolation of Smaug starts exactly where An Unexpected Journey left off. It throws us right into the action where Azog the Defiler is chasing our company of dwarves and hobbit. Without giving too much away, we meet the wood elves of Mirkwood (where in a shameless pandering to the female demographic, Legolas shows up again for some reason. None of this is in the book.) where Thorin tries to enlist the aid of the elves to take back the Lonely Mountain. The elves refuse and the dwarves go on their way. Azog continues to chase the dwarves, where they end up in Laketown, near the Lonely Mountain. After some more talking, the dwarves end up in the Lonely Mountain and Bilbo finally meets the dragon Smaug. The movie ends up with Smaug leaving the mountain to raze Laketown. So that's it in a nutshell.
The movie is fun, moves quickly from scene to scene until Laketown. However, I was in this movie for Smaug. The two images I had taken from the cartoon when I was eight was Smaug and Gollum. Gollum doesn't disappoint, but Smaug was a real barnburner. The scenes with him are great and worth the wait. I loved every second he was on the screen. The other aspect I loved about this particular movie was many of the action scenes were filmed from a very unique perspective that upped the excitement quotient for me. One of the biggest action set pieces in this movie is the dwarves escaping from the orcs under Azog while they are riding barrels in a rapid river. Most of the action is filmed from the barrels, which, for me, was a lot of fun. My two complaints about the film are that it is a tad too long. I was looking at my watch near the end, despite this being a very fast moving film. The other is the shameless pandering to some audience. Now, I understand the art of adaptation necessarily means things will be cut or condensed, but when there is outright invention of new characters or plotlines that have no point or purpose, I draw the line. Liv Tyler's female elf in Lord of the Rings was a necessary addition to make a more coherent storyline. But the addition of Legolas and the invention of a new female elf with some kind of weird three-way unrequited relationship with Legolas and one of the dwarves for no particular purpose is where I begin to tune out. Anyway, purists will absolutely hate the film. Otherwise, it is a lot of fun and I think you should go see it.
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