By Brett Blake There’s been a lot of carping in online film criticism circles about the relative merits of director Peter Jackson’s HOBBIT trilogy, with many deriding the decision to split the slim source novel into three movies (a fair-enough point of contention), and others finding these new films lacking in the subtlety and depth that were plentiful in LORD OF THE RINGS. And you know what? They’re absolutely right about that - these HOBBIT films aren’t coursing with the weighty import of any of the LORD OF THE RINGS installments. But here’s the thing… neither is the novel; it’s a pure adventure tale, which is something THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG understands perfectly, and it captures a sense of spectacle and excitement that many so-called blockbusters could only hope to achieve. Picking up rather unceremoniously after the events of the previous film, AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, this second film finds Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and the band of Dwarves - led by Thorin (Richard Armitage) - drawing nearer to Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, inside which dwells the titular Smaug, a massive, fire-breathing dragon. Obstacles present themselves along the way, but it’s no spoiler to say that our heroes do finally enter the mountain in this film, and in doing so come face-to-snout with Smaug. Where that leads to I leave for audiences to discover for themselves; of course, if you’ve read the novel, you have a pretty good idea of what transpires with the dragon, though Peter Jackson throws a few curveballs into the narrative. Right from the jump, it’s clear that DESOLATION OF SMAUG is a marked improvement over last year’s UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (which I’m still a big fan of); whereas that film - somewhat by necessity - spent a good chunk of its first hour setting the stage for the adventure ahead, this film launches into adventure full-steam. It’s an episodic structure (at least until the company reaches the mountain), but it moves at a fast clip, and the individual encounters are thoroughly interesting, distinct, and entertaining. We meet Beorn, a man who can transform into a giant bear. We encounter a pack of terrifying spiders. We learn more about the Elves and their antagonism towards the Dwarves. We spend a good deal of time with the people of Lake-town, a location we’ll be seeing more of in the next film, including Bard (Luke Evans), who’ll also be a key figure in the next movie. Similarly, this episodic nature allows the story to present us with a more varied and interesting assortment of characters than last time around. Legolas (Orlando Bloom) returns to Middle Earth, joined by newcomer Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), and their relationship to each other - as well as the Dwarves - appears primed to play a large role in the next film. Ditto for Bard, who’s given a compelling backstory and family life, which is a welcome expansion of his character from the novel version of the man, who’s a bit of a blank slate; here, by establishing that Bard has a unique connection to Smaug’s past, it truly feels like this is a character who’ll receive quite a satisfying payoff, albeit in a full year's time. Once we get inside the mountain, we are finally able to meet Smaug (as voiced by Benedict “I’ve been in every movie this year!” Cumberbatch), and his confrontation with Bilbo and the Dwarves is absolutely fantastic. From a purely design standpoint, Smaug’s one of the best cinematic dragons ever, and Cumberbatch’s vocal performance is memorable and full of character. If Jackson and co. hadn’t been able to pull Smaug off, then the four-plus hours of film-time that led up to his appearance here would have been all for nothing; luckily, the buildup was worth it. He’s a fully-realized CG creation, and lots of credit has to go to the animators, who - in tandem with Cumberbatch - really give him a distinct personality. Dovetailing into that, we have the action sequences, which are first rate. There’s a river chase involving barrels that is one of the most fun setpieces in years, but even the smaller fights are exciting and packed with neat gags and bits of business. Jackson’s creativity is fully unleashed in these moments, and there are few filmmakers who have the eye for building fun sequences the way Jackson does. The production design needs a few words said about it, too, as I found it perhaps even more exquisite than the previous film (or even LORD OF THE RINGS); there’s a jaw-dropping attention to detail, particularly in the Lake-town set, and in conjunction with the beautiful cinematography, the movie is a delight to look at. Aurally, things are even better, with Howard Shore contributing a spectacular score, rich and powerful music that stands toe-to-toe with his masterpieces from the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy; it’s the score of the year. There are nitpicks, of course. The biggest one being that the character of Bilbo is, at best, a co-lead in this story, sharing importance with Thorin. Some people seem to have a real issue with this, and I do think there could have been ways to mitigate it to some extent, but it’s really a small point. Why? Because Thorin has the clearest and most effective story arc in the novel; from beginning to end, it is Thorin who changes the most, not Bilbo, and if the filmmakers want the conclusion of Thorin’s story in next year’s THERE AND BACK AGAIN to have the impact it deserves, foregrounding him in this installment was the wise move. The only other issue I’d say I have with the movie is also a very small one: this very much feels like a “middle” film, right down to the cliffhanger ending. The ending works, I think, because there’s not just a single cliffhanger, but rather there are multiple dangling threads - each interesting and compelling - that really do leave you wanting more (to use that cliche), instead of frustrated by the lack of closure. The last thing I want to say is in regards to Peter Jackson himself. The movie feels like a direct reflection of his desire to entertain, and there’s not a frame in this movie that doesn’t convey his exuberance and joy at being able to play in this world. THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG has just one goal - to make sure you leave the theater having had a blast. It more than accomplishes that, and it’s the finest adventure film of 2013.
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