Last year’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was met with mix reactions. Some found it captured the more childlike playfulness of J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal book while others found it too long, drawn out and even boring. It was imperative, then, that Peter Jackson delivered something more with the second part of what will be a nine hour journey.
Thankfully that’s exactly what Jackson has done in pretty much every way; he has delivered a pacier, thematically stronger and altogether more compelling adventure that, while still on the long side, is a rollicking ride of a film pretty much from start to finish.
We pick things up with Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the rest of the dwarves still on their journey to reclaim their homeland of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Along the way they come up against various obstacles including an encounter with some huge spiders and the ever ruthless Azog the Defiler and his army of orcs who are hot on the group’s tail.
Where the first one was hampered with introducing us back into the world of Middle Earth, as well as spending much of its first act messing around with singing and eating fine cheeses in Bilbo’s house, the sequel has the advantage of just being able to get on with things. After an illuminating scene that takes place before the events of the first film, letting us know a bit more of Thorin’s (leader of the dwarves) motivations, the plot begins to rattle forward and keeps at a nice, enjoyable pace for most of the film.
The direction feels much more confident this time around and the plot is far more fraught with danger. Last time you never really felt like Bilbo, Gandalf or any of the dwarves were in any sort of danger but there are sequences here that genuinely make you think that they’re not all going to make it out okay. It’s that sense of peril that gives the action much needed punch and keeps things gripping and real even in the face of, some would say, over-reliance on CGI.
Easily the strongest aspect of the last film was Martin Freeman’s performance as Bilbo. It was a shrewd piece of casting no one really saw coming and he perfectly encapsulates if not the exact look then the personality and quirks of the character from the written word. He is given even more to do this time around and Freeman does a fantastic job of conveying the nuanced ways the infamous ring of power is changing him along with dealing with whatever perilous situation he finds himself in at any given moment.
The franchise continues to deviate from the book if only because it has to expand on and elaborate things that aren’t in there or are only eluded to but never described. The biggest new addition is in the form of Tauriel, a female elf played by Evangline Lilly (of Lost fame). Her inclusion may well irk Tolkien purest as she is completely created for this particular telling of The Hobbit story but she’s not just put in for the sake of it. She makes for a strong heroine and proves that in this world it’s not just the males who can hold their own.
Unfortunately the film does feel the need to force a love story into the proceedings involving Tauriel and Orlando Bloom’s fan-favourite Legolas. All it does is get in the way of the main storyline rather than adding anything meaningful. It’s this kind of unnecessary subplots that extend the runtime and stop it from being truly great.
However, the sequel does not disappoint when it comes to the spectacle. It promises a lot with that title and how the franchise has teased us with Smaug so far, but delivers some truly magnificent, visually dazzling set-pieces. Not giving too much away but Smaug himself, voiced by the ever-amazing Benedict Cumberbatch, is an impressive sight to behold indeed and Cumberbatch voices him with brilliant menace and commanding presence. Outside the dragon-led sequences, there’s an utterly fantastic scene involving the dwarves escaping down a river in barrels that’s about as good of an action set-piece as you’ll find in the last few years.
The merits of splitting what is a relatively short book into three films is still up for debate although, as some have correctly pointed out, Jackson is pulling not only from the book but also extra material that Tolkien wrote outside and around it. But either way there’s something admirable about putting that much passion into bringing a much beloved book to life. While still not perfect, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a far richer, more playfully adventurous and altogether more exciting film than its predecessor. At 161 minutes it does outstay its welcome but rips along at a good old pace and leaves you on a cliffhanger that makes you lament the fact we’ve got to wait another year for the third and final part.
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