The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug ~upd~ — Confirmed & Free
The undisputed highlight of the film is Smaug. Voiced with velvety, arrogant menace by Benedict Cumberbatch, the dragon is a visual and auditory masterpiece. The interaction between Bilbo and Smaug inside the gold-laden halls of Erebor is the film’s strongest sequence. It is a tense game of riddles that captures the essence of Tolkien’s writing better than any action set-piece could. The CGI is seamless; Smaug feels heavy, ancient, and terrifyingly alive.
The Desolation of Smaug also does the heavy lifting of connecting the dots to The Lord of the Rings . Gandalf’s side quest to Dol Guldur reveals the return of the Necromancer (Sauron), shifting the stakes from a simple dwarven heist to the fate of Middle-earth itself.
Picking up precisely where the first film ended, The Desolation of Smaug follows the hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and the company of thirteen Dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) as they continue their quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its vast treasure from the dragon Smaug. Pursued by the pale Orc Azog and his hunters, the company takes a perilous shortcut through the dark and twisted forest of Mirkwood. the hobbit: the desolation of smaug
When Peter Jackson announced that J.R.R. Tolkien’s relatively slim children's novel, The Hobbit , would be expanded into a massive cinematic trilogy, fans were skeptical. However, 2013’s silenced many doubters by delivering a high-stakes, visually spectacular middle chapter that successfully bridged the gap between the whimsical "Unexpected Journey" and the dark gravity of The Lord of the Rings . Expanding the Legend
Upon release, The Desolation of Smaug received generally positive reviews, with many critics calling it the strongest entry in the Hobbit trilogy. Rotten Tomatoes certified it “Fresh” at 74%. Praise was heaped upon Freeman’s performance, Cumberbatch’s voice work, and the sheer visceral thrill of the dragon’s lair sequence. The undisputed highlight of the film is Smaug
By the time the screen cuts to black as Smaug flies toward Lake-town, the audience is left breathless. It is a film that captures the wonder of discovery while never losing sight of the greed and darkness lurking beneath the mountain.
The forest tests their sanity, and they are captured by the Wood-elves of Mirkwood, led by the haughty and suspicious King Thranduil (Lee Pace). With the help of a mysterious new ally—a shapeshifter named Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt) and, later, the elven captain Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly)—the Dwarves escape in ingenious fashion, floating down a river in empty wine barrels. This barrel chase sequence, a rollicking mix of slapstick and life-or-death danger, becomes one of the film’s most memorable set pieces. It is a tense game of riddles that
Peter Jackson seems determined to prove that The Hobbit is just as epic as The Lord of the Rings . In doing so, the film occasionally tips into video-game territory. The action in Lake-town and the final "gold statue" sequence inside the mountain strain credulity. The dwarves survive falls and beatings that should have killed them ten times over, diminishing the sense of real danger.
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They finally reach Lake-town, a squalid human settlement built on the shores of the Long Lake, ruled by the cowardly and corrupt Master (Stephen Fry) and his sycophantic aide, Alfrid (Ryan Gage). Here, the Dwarves are met with both suspicion and hope. Using the townspeople’s desperation, Thorin promises a share of the mountain’s wealth, securing boats and supplies for the final leg of the journey.
While An Unexpected Journey felt like a fairy tale, The Desolation of Smaug leans into darker, more adult themes:
