The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Movie Review

If you follow me on Twitter you would have probably seen me literally 'begging' for invites and passes for the premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug well it's actually because of a number of reasons- first since Paul and I are big Tolkien fans. When we were boyfriend and girlfriend we spent so many hours watching the Lord of the Rings on DVD (the extended version, with commentary and of course the special features and all the behind the scenes that come with the DVD). We also have (of course) The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey on DVD :) 

The Second reason is that December 10, 2013 is actually our second wedding anniversary and I really, really wanted to celebrate by watching the premiere. Unfortunately it didn't push through so I just had to take matters in my own hands. (I actually got an invite bit it was only for one- sooo....)  

So yeah -Paul and I really are a match made in geek heaven - wanting to celebrate our wedding anniversary with Bilbo, Gandalf, a band of dwarves and a grumpy dragon. Even if that didn't really happen we went out to watch the movie with Paul's sister, her husband, their son and Paul's Ate who actually owns the DVDs we watch. Yep the geekiness runs in the family!   

Continuing in his tradition of translating Tolkien's work into a great cinematic experience, Peter Jackson once again slips on the one ring to rule them all on and transports you in an epic adventure - even if it means changing a thing or two in the story.     

First of all Legolas (Orlando Bloom) is not in the original "There and back again" story but is included in the movie most probably for the legions of fan girls. You can only have so much bearded dwarves, a clean shaven elf is nice to see on the screen for a change but Paul is not a fan girl and is not such a big fan of Legolas either. He keeps on shaking his head on the 'too much hero shots' for Legolas and I must agree that he has a lot of in the movie to the point of overkill maybe? 

A difference from the first Hobbit movie though is the increase in stunts in the second film, complete with walking on walls ala Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Orc decapitations too. I guess working with Dwarves would definitely limit those kinds of stunts but that definitely did not stop the crew from going all out in the barrel and river barrel ride scene. Anyone who gets out of that situation definitely deserves the title of barrel rider! 

   

The Wildest River ride ever- in barrels! 

Another elf who was also not in the original story is the female elf Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) and in keeping with Peter Jackson's practice of letting female characters kick butt on the screen, Tauriel kicks a lot of Orc butts indeed. In case you didn't know, in the books Tolkien gave more traditional roles for his female characters who often sat back and looked pretty while the men did all the sword swaying and the arrow loosing action. So big thanks to Peter Jackson for putting a little girl power in his adaptations. 

Aside from giving female characters some orc heads to cut off, Peter Jackson also likes to add a little hint of romance and love in the air and in the absence of Aragorn and Arwen that 'honor' fell on the hands of Kili (Aidan Turner) and Taruriel- wait what? Yes you got that right there was also some weird, nay awkward Elf-Dwarf flirting going on. Oh and can I say it was also a bizarre love triangle between Kili- Tauriel and Legolas. Let's see how this inter-racial romance plays off in the next movie.    
   

Legolas and Tauriel: Absent in the books but kicking ass in the movie. 

A new character who was in the books was also introduced in the second movie and this is Bard the Bowman played by Luke Evans and Paul and I both agreed that he looks a lot like Will Turner from Pirates of the Carribean, even Paul's 11 year old nephew thought so! Its rather amusing to note that Bard looks like Will since Orlando Bloom is also in The Hobbit (as Legolas- but you already knew that). Maybe the character design or make up department could have given him a different look. Nevertheless Bard is a really interesting character given that he represents the human race in the movie. 

Kalook-a-like ? : Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) from Pirates of the Carribean and Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

   

Let's get ready to rumble! Man joins in the melee in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. With Bard the Bowman, the treacherous Alfred and the classic politician - The Master. 

The character everyone probably wanted to see (and for good reason) was of course Smaug the Dragon! Can I just say that he deserves the 'best dragon in a movie award' I mean Smaug alone is reason enough to catch the movie in the cinema and if you can spare the extra cash to see it in 3D, HDR and iMax it will be so worth it! I mean we are talking about a HUGE dragon! The real deal - how they are really supposed to be in the tales and stories of old. Daenery's dragons look like embryos beside Smaug! (I still love those guys though, I do not wish the wrath of the Mother of Dragons upon me). And can we just give an applause for the amazing performance of Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of Smaug-it was just perfect! 

Oh and an interesting trivia that you might not know is that Benedict Cumberbatch who plays Smaug and Martin Freeman who of course plays Bilbo in The Hobbit movies actually star opposite each other as none other than Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in BBC 1's Sherlock! See the photo below!   

Face to Face: Smaug the Dragon and Bilbo the burglar

Meanwhile on 221B Baker St. -- Benedict Cumberbatch (Smaug) and Martin Freeman (Bilbo) are also the world known Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.  

Even if there are a lot of new characters that were featured in The Desolation of Smaug, the heart of the movie still belongs to the unexpectedly brave Bilbo Baggins who has seemed to have found his courage and a certain ring on this journey and of course the brave dwarves who set forth to reclaim their home in a crazy adventure that seems to always follow the formula of out of the fire and into the furnace, still providing some comedic relief on the way. 

Of course let us not forget everyone's favorite punctual wizard Gandalf who sets off on a journey of his own to Dol Guldur to check out all this hollabuloo about a Necromancer who sort of looks like a certain 'eye'. While this was not particularly in the book, we see that The Hobbit movies may be trying too hard to connect itself in The Lord of the Rings universe. In the context of a book to movie adaptation The Desolation of Smaug does not really take the road of the book but rather makes its own paths to give the fans a movie experience where in they recognize the now running into six movies together. 

While this could be frustrating for some fans, others may see it as: 

"Aaaahhhh" - and connect the dots to the next movies. I for one found the little Gimli cameo hilarious, where Legolas encounters the wee Gimli in a picture and mistakes him for an ugly creature of course we all know that the two become unexpected best friends in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

Where is Gandalf?: Everyone's favorite wizard faces his own battles in The Desolation of Smaug. 

Watching the movie felt a little weird since it was the middle of The Hobbit: Trilogy it does not really follow the typical story line of an Introduction and a Rising Action going into the Climax, it just starts with a lot of action! :P But there are definitely a lot of scenes and emotions that will have you cheering, screaming, laughing and gasping. Definitely a movie to catch with the family, friends or your loved one - talking about the movie after is also an experience you should not miss! :P 

What I love about The Hobbit movies is that it is a big adventure that involves dragons and treasures, dwarves and elves. It opens up the imagination to new possibilities. You have to admit that there is no place like Middle-earth after all. In this day and age where kids gawk at hand held devices and games, let's encourage them to dream and imagine. You might not know it but The Hobbit is actually a children's book! Let's keep the imagination of our next generation alive by introducing them to the classics and with great movies like The Desolation of Smaug you shouldn't have a hard time! :) 

The movie is 2 hours and 50 minutes so I suggest staying away from Big Gulps and huge Iced teas before watching the movie and of course the visit to the comfort room is a must.  

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is now showing in cinemas and has earned $252,000 inthe Philippines and is shown in 312 cinemas (source here).