Viewed in
2013
Formats
Movie theater (High Frame Rate 3D).
Premise
Bilbo, Thorin and their band of dwarves continue their march to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim it against Smaug the Dragon.
Loved
River-barrel scene, Bilbo-versus-Smaug.
Disliked
Feelings of Lord of the Rings-redux.
Thoughts
Pretty entertaining, despite its flaws.
One of the two moments I loved was the river escape via dwarves in barrels. I heard of some brouhaha over the buoyancy plausibilities, but it was so much fun, who the hell cares? The pacing was incredible, with a patient crescendo from amusing kiddie log ride to intricate chaotic dance of speed and combat and pure swashbuckling. This was probably one of the closest in spirit to the book.
Another great scene was a cat-and-mouse of epic proportions between the invisible hobbit and the magnificent, monstrous Smaug. Benedict Cumberbatch's performance plus the colorful dialog, as Smaug taunted and toyed with Bilbo, bordered on cinematic poetry. It definitely reminded me of the enthralling battle of the wits between Bilbo and Gollum in the first movie.
Last time, I didn't enjoy my high-frame rate experience. This time around, the 48 fps was much more palatable, probably as a combination of technical improvements and my building a tolerance. It was still noticeable and slightly video-gamey, but the amount of detail was exquisite during the discombobulating river chase, and the sheer difference in scale inside the Lonely Mountain was wonderfully expressed in 3D.
Despite it being nearly half-an-hour shorter than the first entry, the movie still felt long. I couldn't care for Evangeline Lilly nor Gandalf's subplots. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey had an identity issue between adapting the lyrical aspects of the book and maintaining epic action. This time around, they sadly cut out the "slow parts", further removing it from the levity of the original source. The end result? While the action sequences were superior to the first trilogy, it felt much like "been there, done that".
Personally, I felt like Peter Jackson and company should've gone the other direction, not just for the sake of Tolkien's original tone, but also to differentiate this trilogy from The Lord of the Rings films. Having said that, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug had its moments of cinematic beauty and fun, with a better HFR experience for me.
