Here we go - the second part in Peter Jackson's blistering return to Middle Earth, following last year's introduction to the tale of Bilbo Baggins and his many companions and adventures. I might have another look at that one at some point but for now, let us move on to the latest chapter - The Desolation of Smaug. I might as well say here and now - SPOILER ALERT, as I don't think I can talk about the film to the optimum level without divulging a few.
OK, broadly speaking, I found this film highly enjoyable. Spectacular sequences, intriguing characters and action abound; this film is certainly up there with Peter Jackson's other cinematic masterpieces. In comparison, I feel the first film was a bit lighter and slightly more innocent (though in a sense that reflects what occurs in Tolkien's book) and I also feel this second installment didn't flow quite as well; you got the sense of a bit more padding involved, but we shall get to that later.
Firstly - the positives, of which there were many. In terms of knock out scenes and sequences, "the river episode" was mesmerisingly beautiful to watch for me. A combination of great acting, real-life stupendous camera shots and ridiculously good CGI, made this escape/battle scene a joy to watch. Pure, true to the book, involving a lot of characters, plenty of action, and plenty of charm. Fantastic.
Another show-stopper for me, the whole conception of Smaug the dragon was utter genius. In the first film we were given teasing shadows of him in flashback but now, in his titular film, we saw him in all his glory. Motion capture and CGI rendered Smaug beautifully; constantly something to behold. Every shot featuring the magnificently evil beast was brilliant. Add to that the deep, uncanny and incredible vocal talents of the equally incredible Benedict Cumberbatch and it is certainly a winning combination. Although, I have one slight issue regarding Smaug. It is not an issue with the dragon itself it is with Jackson's decision to draw out his time on screen. The pieces taken from the book were pretty faultless, yet here I bring in the first bit of "padding"; they added a whole scene where Bilbo, Thorin, and the rest of the dwarf company try to fight the dragon and drive him out of the mountain themselves. Though this sequence was quite spectacular to watch, it did feel labored, odd and slightly unnecessary. What's more, it gave us an extended cliff hanger to the next film (which is, very annoyingly, going to be released in a year's time!). I thought the Desolation of Smaug would not only refer to the destruction the dragon caused but also his eventual demise. Unfortunately we only got the latter here, yet I can only hope we get to see the end of the brilliantly brought to life dragon in a spectacular fashion in next year's film.
Stand out characters and performances now I think. Firstly, I think we need to address the titular Hobbit. If you thought Bilbo Baggins was slightly overexposed in the Unexpected Journey (played by not one but two great actors) then if anything in the second film, I think we find him slightly overlooked and overshadowed. Don't get me wrong, he is given plenty of screen time (he is The Hobbit after all) and he is given key roles in various parts of the film. But somehow I feel there is just too much of an overpowering sense of other forces at work, rendering Bilbo's role as still present but also not too stand-out, in comparison to that of others. This I feel, is not necessarily a bad thing. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings films are of course great ensemble movies, but if you miss Bilbo slightly in this one, perhaps you might want to again blame "the padding" as a reason why we don't get to feel the impact as much of our hairy-footed friend.
It is almost always a joy to watch Sir Ian McKellen at work. He gave life to Gandalf to life in The Lord of the Rings, and his return to Middle Earth has been met with huge acclaim and rightly so. This film proves no exception. Gandalf is always a wonderfully warm, clever, funny, powerful and dynamic character to watch for me. Even his "extra" bits in the film will receive no complaint off me as, without wanting to give away too much, they were fantastically acted and stupendously shot scenes, and I cannot wait for his return in the third Hobbit film.
Other characters? Well I feel they've fleshed Bard out a bit compared to his turn in the book, but again I feel this is a good bit of embellishment. Each member of the Dwarf company's scenes, from the book or not, were mostly great to watch; I feel we now have thirteen fantastic personalities to enjoy here. Stephen Fry's Master of Lake Town was a wonderful surprise performance for me, and it was lovely to see Sylvester McCoy return for a brief spell as Radagast the Brown again.
I think it is fair to say that there is an awful lot of elf oomph in this film. Legions of fans around the world whooped for joy at the unexpected return of Orlando Bloom as Legolas. Mostly I am in agreement with them, and I feel this pre-LOTR Legolas is very interesting and exciting to watch. We are also introduced to his father Thranduil, King of Mirkwood. AKA Lee Pace, who gives an extremely regal and ethereal, yet resolutely human performance.
An entirely new character, and a welcome boost of femininity, comes in the form of she-elf Tauriel, played by the beguilingly beautiful and brilliant Evangeline Lily. I for one have enjoyed watching Evangeline Lily since her LOST days; not only is she incredibly pretty, but more importantly she has shown great range as an actor, which she brings to Tauriel, the gentle, beautiful elf one minute, and the haughty, confident and kick-ass warrior the next. I credit Peter Jackson here greatly, and I love what they've done with Evangeline's Lily's character here. However, just as a slight niggle, I am not entirely sure whether introducing a distinct hint of the love triangle between her, Legolas, and the dwarf Kili is a good move to make. Again it seems like they're just doing it for the fun of it, or as a means to justify the presence of the characters, which isn't really needed. We have another film for this to go somewhere, but I have an inkling it may fall flat.
On balance then, this film is a slight shame in some ways. Almost every aspect; character, acting, action, imagery, music, they're all great to watch and wonderful when they come together. It is just the overall 'grand design' that comes across - in that here more than the previous film, we do get a sense of plot-stretching. I do not dispute the genius that is Peter Jackson, but you really do get the sense that he is buying for time (and no doubt profit) in quite a few places here with the decisions made by him and his team in the making of this film. Well, he's got what he wanted - he's managed to push it to a third film. Most of us know what's coming, all I hope for is that we will get it in the way that we, and these films deserve. I hope they know what they're doing, and I hope in a year's time we end this incredible series on an all time high.
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