Review: The Hobbit: The
Desolation of Smaug is a fun epic adventure; but like An
Unexpected Journey, it is probably overlong and overstuffed for casual
fans. The film finds Bilbo, Gandalf, Thorin, and the other dwarves on their
journey to reclaim their home from the powerful dragon Smaug. However, just
getting to the Lonely Mountain is a trial onto itself. The company is being
hunted by a pack of Orcs, not to mention that they must travel through
unfriendly Elfish territory. And worst of all, the mighty dragon Smaug awaits
them.
Much
like An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug is a film filled to the
brim with characters and subplots. For the casual movie-going fan, it is
probably all a bit too much – on top of the massive action set pieces, which
while fun are also probably largely unneeded to the extent that they exist
presently. As is, The Desolation of Smaug is a film so packed (as to appeal
specifically to fans of the film universe, made by maybe its biggest fan Peter
Jackson) that it may all feel a bit overwhelming.
And
yet, the film gets more to the heart of the narrative – the reason why Bilbo,
Gandalf, Thorin and the rest have all embarked on their quest, which inherently
makes the film more interesting. Plus, Jackson does a good job exploring some
of the other characters a bit more – as really Bilbo is not the clear lead in
this film (at least not all the time). Gandalf goes off on his own to
investigate the rumor of a dark sorcerer, Thorin’s motivations for wanting to
return to the Lonely Mountain are fleshed out to a greater extent, Bilbo feels
like more of a member of the group than an outsider, and the Elves play a part
too (seeing fan-favorite Legolas return).
This
all builds up to a great confrontation between Bilbo (and later Thorin, et al.)
and Smaug. Jackson does a magnificent job with the dragon, both visually and
tonally. Smaug commands the screen, which is everything one could want for a
film’s main draw and climatic character. Smaug alone is enough to make this
film successful, on top of the great characters and fun action.
Jackson
does a good job as well balancing all the action, the excitement, the drama,
and the character moments. Each has their place and time – though, again, some
of the action scenes probably go on a bit too long. But, if nothing else, the
film is very entertaining and visually stunning, which should be enough to hold
casual fans’ attention (despite the film probably feeling long to them).
However,
there are a few issues that continue to persist in this series. As mentioned,
the film is too grandiose for the casual fan, and as it is now probably would
have been better suited for the Extended Edition. And, because the simple
narrative has been stretched into three films (though all the added story
elements and subplots are great for people who love the world and characters), what
would have been small action beats have been blown up into superfluously
massive set pieces that seem to go on and on (because, what would a big epic
adventure film be without its huge action scenes?). To his credit however,
Jackson does make these unnecessarily grand scenes a lot of fun even so (like
the barrel escape scene).
Another
issue, arising partially due to the nature of this series being a prequel and
everyone knowing that most of these characters make it through the end and thus
are never really in any danger, is that the film just does not have real stakes
for the audience. Yes, the audience to some extent cares about the characters,
but there is never a sense of real suspense. Jackson presents these characters
without a true sense of mortality. They feel like cartoon heroes, invulnerable
to any and everything. And thus, there is no tension, suspense, or stakes for
the audience – which really is what keeps this film from being great.
Even
in the writing, stakes and suspense are diminished. For example, in the second
half the audience is told that the only way to kill Smaug is with a black
arrow, and then we are shown that there is one last black arrow in the laketown
under the mountain – thus, the audience is told what will happen narratively.
And yet, the dwarves undertake this big plan to kill Smaug by other means
within the mountain. This big action scene exists to give the film a stronger sense
of structure as this sequence ends the film, but emotionally it is vapid
because the audience already knows that it will not succeed before it even
takes place. Thus, these big action scenes play as purely spectacle without
emotional resonance (which is too bad). In the end, it does not accomplish its
goal narratively all to well either, as by the nature of the story, the film
still ends feeling very unresolved (because there really is not a good stopping
point).
Still,
all that said, the film is a lot fun and very entertaining, especially for fans
of The
Lord of the Rings film universe (which I am). It is clear that Jackson too
loves this world and has set out to make an expansive narrative with as much
Middle Earth stuff as possible, and to this he has succeeded brilliantly. I
think fans will enjoy the film and love many aspects of it (like Smaug), but I
am not sure the same is true for those casual moviegoers who just want to see a
big Hollywood adventure epic.
Technical, aesthetic & acting achievements:
Peter Jackson continues to showcase his visual talent for making grand epic
films. Like An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug is not as good as
any of The Lord of the Rings films, but really that is because it is plainly
not as good a story (and we all already know what happens, having already seen
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy). However, the film does set up There and Back
Again to be one big adventure with a wonderful climatic battle or two.
Likely, it will be the best and most satisfying of the trilogy.
The
cast and crew are again all in top form. Composer Howard Shore’s
music is fantastic as usual, while Andrew Lesnie’s
cinematography is beautiful. I especially enjoyed how void of color his
photography became when Gandalf went to find the Necromancer. Dan Hennah’s
production design is fabulous as well. His talent really shines in the design
of the big sets.
The
acting continues to be very good as well. Stephen Fry
and Orlando
Bloom (returning to the franchise) have some great stuff in supporting
roles, while Evangeline
Lilly is wonderful as Tauriel (a warrior Elf who falls for Aidan Turner’s
Killi). She brings a needed female presence to the action and dynamic of the
film. What is also good about the potential relationship between Tauriel and
Killi is that it gives the audience something to latch onto, relate to, and
care about (something very much needed). Benedict Cumberbatch,
voicing Smaug, however steals the film. His scenes opposite Martin Freeman’s
Bilbo are easily the film’s best moments. Cumberbatch has such power in his
voice. Freeman, also, is again phenomenal as Bilbo. He is quietly maybe the
best part of the whole trilogy so far.
Summary & score: The Hobbit: The Desolation of
Smaug is a grand adventure epic made with love and affection for really only
the diehards (fans that should enjoy it quite a lot, as I did), while everyone
else will likely find it all a bit too much. 8/10
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