The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug review

So the second installment in the Hobbit trilogy-that-should-have-been-one-movie is here. Find my thoughts below.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the sequel to 2012's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and the second adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein's novel The Hobbit. I tried to watch that movie before I saw this one, but found myself turning it off halfway through because I have better things to do. Like, well, nearly anything. The first Hobbit movie had such dreadful pacing that it ruined the great source material. When I heard the sequel was greatly improved, I decided I'd check it out to see how improved it was.

At the very least, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a distinct improvement over the previous film. It combines the strengths of the source material with an actual sense of excitement (something the first movie lacked) with relative success. When it sticks to the book, it's fantastic. The world is vividly realized, it's fast-paced and exciting, and the visuals are fantastic. The story of the book is still fairly intact, and it's not weighed down by endless detours like the first film. In addition, it doesn't feel like every line has been adapted to a shot, another issue with the first one. Were the entire movie like this, it might have found a way onto my top-10 movies of the year list.

Unfortunately, it also feels the need to make several additions, almost none of which are any good at all, and absolutely none of which feel necessary except to pad out the length. Worse, a lot of these scenes have noticeably worse writing than the more faithful parts. What was originally a novel about a Hobbit going on an unexpected journey to assist a group of dwarves in reclaiming their kingdom has been bloated up to include the return of a dark force that poses a threat to the entire world. This is to link it to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but this link was not needed.  That said, most of the scenes are fairly entertaining, which keeps The Desolation of Smaug watchable.

I don't want to watch the next one. That's this movie's biggest crime: it fails to justify splitting the adaptation into three films. Then again, this was a distinct improvement over the first, so maybe the third will actually approach the greatness of the book. The movie does work on a popcorn level, so I don't suggest avoiding it, and if you're expecting an enjoyable fantasy movie, this may work as well. However, if you want to see the original novel done justice, you won't find it here, and if you want to see a great movie, I suggest looking elsewhere.