A Film Review by: Ben Hayle, NMTV
Peter Jackson returns Middle-earth for the fifth time with the release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. This is the continuation of Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy that started with 2012’s An Unexpected Journey and will conclude next year with There and Back Again. The hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) continues his journey with Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and a troupe of 13 dwarves who are led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). The dwarves are determined to return to the Lonely Mountain from which they were driven out by the dragon Smaug. As they continue their journey adventure and misfortune lurk around every corner.
As was the case with An Unexpected Journey Jackson has let his love for Middle-earth hamper his movie making ability. The Desolation of Smaug, although better than its predecessor, feels bloated and drags through several scenes. With the film coming in at two hours and 41 minutes Jackson should have hired another editor to tighten up the film. The story was interesting and would have been a highly entertaining two hour movie. Our traveling party had a long way to go from The Shire to the Lonely Mountain but it didn’t need to take four and a half hours of movie to arrive at the mountain!
Aside from the films bloated script, it was visually stunning. Jackson has a vision of exactly what Middle-earth should look like and he delivers on an epic level. However, the stunning visuals can not distract long enough from the shortcomings. The acting performances are uneven. From the spot on portrayal of Gandalf from Sir Ian McKellen to the cheesy performance by Orlando Bloom as Legolas.
Jackson has now delivered two long and drawn out films from Middle-earth, here’s hoping he can turn it around next year for his last foray into the fictional universe. But who are we kidding it will take a lot more than no more Tolkien material to keep Jackson from bringing Middle-earth back to movie theaters in the future.
3 out of 5 stars.
