Perhaps I’m too harsh on the series. After all, after the immense success of his original trilogy, Peter Jackson was only setting himself up for disappointment with the much awaited prequel. Much of my compliments and criticisms of The Desolation of Smaug are so similar to that of An Unexpected Journey, I could just as easily copy and paste most of my original thoughts verbatim. However, for what it’s worth, Smaug does represent a marked, albeit still problematic, improvement over its earlier sibling.
When last we left Bilbo and the gang, they were on their way to the lonely mountain of Erebor, seeking to reclaim their kingdom, and their riches, from the massive and destructive Smaug. Along the way, they come across various obstacles, skinchangers, orcs, spiders, woodland elves (including a reappearance from Orlando Bloom’s Legolas), and the looming threat of a force called the Necromancer. Bilbo even faces plenty of potential mind alterations from the ring he recovered in Gollum’s lair, all of this leading up to their arrival at the lonely mountain, and their confrontation against Smaug, himself.
One thing commonly criticized of An Unexpected Journey was
the excessive length and content present, with the film clocking in at nearly
three hours. It’s something I brought up briefly, but never fully went in depth
for. Here, I plan to do just that.
First off, the length: The Hobbit films mark the first time I've ever noticed the length of a Middle-Earth film. Each movie so far has clocked in at
over 160 minutes, and they really don’t justify it. With The Lord of the Rings,
it made sense, because there really was just too much in the book to cram in
under 3 hours. Here, a hefty chunk of the material, the awkward subplots, and
the numerous contents that Jackson took from the Appendices of Middle Earth,
feels like little more than blatant filler. Entertaining filler, but
nevertheless, padding is still padding. There’s too much crammed in these
movies, and the potentially interesting elements feel compromised because of
this. For instance, one character in the movie, Tauriel (an original creation
by Jackson and his writers, played by Evangeline Lilly), promises to be a very
strong and awesome character, but is eventually relegated to a silly, and
unnecessary love triangle (if you can even call it that), and on top of that,
the movie ends on the most eye rolling cliffhanger. If these movies were going
to be the amazing prequels they deserved to be, they need to be simpler, and leaner.
In spite of this, however, I still maintain that The
Desolation of Smaug remains a more confident successor with a more balanced
pace. The numerous, lengthy action scenes move at such non-stop velocity, and though they don’t do the quieter, more
serious moments much justice, they remain thoroughly watchable, especially one sequence with the dwarves riding barrels down a lake, featuring some
of the most creative orc deaths in the Middle Earth saga, and lifted by very some
welcome humor. As always, one of the main talking points of Jackson’s films is
the look of it, and working with many of the technicians that have collaborated
with Jackson since the beginning, they continue to expand wonderfully on the
lore and locations of Middle Earth. Just as an exercise in spectacle and
enchantment, the movie justifies a viewing.
Of course, one of the most talked about elements of the film
is the build up, and the payoff of the confrontation with Smaug, played with
ferocious charisma by Benedict Cumberbatch, having a banner year, and giving
what is his best of the year. Cumberbatch is to this dragon what Andy Serkis
was to Gollum. Smaug is so imposing, smart, frightening, sinister, and the
simple facial expressions and close distance was enough to chill my bones.
Excellent motion-capture acting on his part (and one that continues to prove Weta
Digital to be the best in motion-capture), and the raspy, yet elegant vocal
work is awesome (due credit is also deserved for the sound team on that). That
sequence where the group finally faces him is a lengthy one, but very well
executed. It clocks in at about 40 minutes (Yeah, I timed it), but I would have
guessed 22 at most. The rest of the cast is also quite excellent, but really,
this is all Smaug’s show.
In case you’re wondering how much I’m looking forward to
There and Back Again, I’m looking very forward to it, but I’m worried in how
they’re going to continue on from the finale of Smaug without it feeling very
awkward, because, as I said, that cliffhanger that they leave us on was an absolute
irritation. However, I’m still willing to give it a chance. As I’ve said
before, it is unfair to judge only a portion of a full movie without important context,
so I’m very much anticipating it with caution.
PS. It was very tempting to make a joke about Jackson
adapting the Silmarillion.
****1/2 / *****
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