The Hobbit (The Desolation of Smaug)

At long last, the journey continues!  Last December, the first of three Hobbit movies released (my review of that here).  Now, we get the second installment: The Desolation of Smaug.

In part two, the small band of dwarves (with Bilbo Baggins) pick up where the first movie left off: they're in the wilderness, on a quest to reclaim their lost kingdom.  As they continue their journey to Erebor, a number of things happen: they're pursued by the vengeful pale orc, get assistance from Beorn, get lost in Mirkwood Forest, encounter deadly spiders therein, get captured by the elves of the woodland realm, pass through Lake-town (the closest inhabited village to the Lonely Mountain), and end up inside the mountain, confronting the deadly Smaug, who awakes from his decades-long sleep to terrorize once more.  While all of this is going on, Gandalf separates from the group to investigate the seemingly-abandoned fortress of Dol Guldur- and confronts a reawakened evil intent on dominating Middle-Earth.  Whew!  That's a lot of action to pack into a 2.5-hour film- and we still have another movie to go. 

Before I list my overall opinions, know this: like the first film, the second incorporates much more into its story than the plot of The Hobbit book.  It uses material from other Tolkien works, and (I believe) it invents new characters entirely.  If you are to enjoy these Hobbit films, you must expect and appreciate this.  In fact, calling it the Hobbit seems slightly deceiving, giving the much closer adherence to the books in Jackson's earlier Middle-Earth trilogy.  But I guess calling these films "Tales of Middle-Earth, with an Emphasis on The Hobbit" wouldn't sell as well.

My thoughts on this installment:

- While part one felt like more of a Fellowship of the Ring re-run, part two feels more original.  We're not just re-visiting familiar locales in Middle-Earth; we're exploring new areas of the land.  These new locales are fresh and exciting.  The home of the Mirkwood Elves is spectacular. Lake-town has an interesting and unique, if downtrodden, air to it.  Dol Guldur and a certain important gravesite are also fantastic- and necessarily dark.

- I love the elves, and those of Mirkwood get a bigger role here.  Three stand out:
    - Legolas (never in the book) did well
    - Thranduil (his father, king of Mirkwood) had a complexity I appreciated.  He's both good and selfish- a refreshingly gray character.
    - Tauriel, the female captain of the guard, was amazing.  Wow!  She may be my favorite movie heroine of all time.  A deadly warrior, yet compassionate companion, I loved her scenes. 
- Some of the fight scenes (especially involving Legolas, Tauriel, and the dwarves floating down the river) were top-notch; among the best I've seen.
- The CG, as expected, was great.
- The parts of the movie I expected to be the bulk of the film- forest/spiders/elves- were done much faster than I imagined (possibly even in the first third/half of the movie).  It seemed odd to me to "skim" over these parts, when you're making three movies out of one book.  I wish they were a little longer.
- This movie feels more 'epic;' more in-line with the original LOTR films.  Jackson did a great job foreshadowing the return of Sauron- it almost makes the dwarves' quest take a backseat.
- Whereas the first movie had me looking at my watch, this movie had me wanting more- a good sign.
- The movie ends too abruptly.  I can't wait for part three, but part two could have ended more naturally.

Overall, another worthy movie- better than An Unexpected Journey.  

Rating: A