New Zealand, United States of America

FantasyAdventureAction

Based on novel or bookOrcsElvesDwarfGiant spiderForestBearDragonTurns into animalWizardSword and sorcery

Peter Jackson

Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Orlando Bloom

Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro

New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, WingNut Films, Warner Bros. Pictures

Taglines: Beyond darkness... beyond desolation... lies the greatest danger of all.

The Dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf have successfully escaped the Misty Mountains, and Bilbo has gained the One Ring. They all continue their journey to get their gold back from the Dragon, Smaug.

Reviews:

Author: r96sk
Still very good, but I found 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' to be a step below the preceding 2012 release. The conclusion is what affects it the most, in my opinion. It isn't anything bad, but it goes on for too long - yet the ending itself comes out of nowhere a little. It's iffily crafted, with the entertainment value not enough to cover it up. Again, nothing anywhere near terrible... just not as great as I wanted/expected. I also kinda wanted more scenes with Martin Freeman (Bilbo) across the midway point. I like the focus on Richard Armitage (Thorin) & Co. but I felt there needed to be more with the lead - and with Ian McKellen (Gandalf), for that matter. I've led with my negatives first, but I have many positives too. I enjoyed the scenes in Esgaroth with Luke Evans (Bard), all of the stuff there looks awesome. The character of Tauriel, played by Evangeline Lilly, is cool. Orlando Bloom (Legolas) remains fun to watch. Everything else, including the score, is very nicely done - as anticipated. Love the end credits song ("I See Fire") by Ed Sheeran, by the way. Not quite as grand and great as "May It Be" from LOTR, but it's pretty close!