The Hobbit : The Desolation Of Smaug

 THE HOBBIT : THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG

Director : Peter Jackson
Year : 2013 
Genre : Fantasy
Rating : ****

'The Hobbit : The Desolation Of Smaug' is the second installment of Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit' trilogy which acts as a sequel to 2012's 'The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey' as well as a precursor to the events of 'The Lord Of The Rings' saga. Once again featuring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, 'The Hobbit : The Desolation Of Smaug' continues the story of the dwarves of Erebor who are returning to their home to rid it of a fire breathing dragon. Much like the first movie, it is overstretched at nearly 3 hours and certainly expands J.R.R Tolkein's original story beyond all recognition. However unlike 'The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey', 'The Hobbit : The Desolation Of Smaug' takes it's time to develop it's characters and their motivations, the magnitude of the situation at hand and the overall scope of the film. Dispensing with long, laborious chase scenes, Peter Jackson takes his time to allow us to become more involved in the plight of the dwarves and Bilbo himself and this allows us to become more attached to their individual personalities and idiosyncracies. While I may not be a fan of 'The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey', I am certainly a fan of 'The Hobbit : The Desolation Of Smaug' thanks to great acting, superb direction, a number of thrilling and hugely entertaining set pieces and a central villain who rivals any of the cinematic greats.

Following on from the events of the previous movie, 'The Hobbit : The Desolation Of Smaug' rejoins the small band of dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield who are returning to the mountain of Erebor, their home which was lost decades earlier when a huge ferocious dragon named Smaug destroyed the town and made the gold covered halls it's lair. Forced to leave their sanctuary, the plucky dwarves endeavour to fight and kill the dragon and reclaim their home. Enlisting the help of a shy hobbit named Bilbo, the dwarves continue their death defying quests through dark forests infested with gigantic flesh eating spiders, mountains that are patrolled by blood thirsty orcs and lands ruled by elves, the mortal enemies of the Erebor born. 

Taking nearly 3 hours to tell a quarter of Tolkein's original story, 'The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey' was a rather laborious and monotonous affair and would replace dialogue and character development with a number of high octane action scenes that resemble a video game. In fact, many of the big set pieces looked exactly like my Playstation 2 game of 'The Return Of The King', apart from the better graphics. This reliance on spectacle and lack of character would form the crux of my problem with 'The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey' and while the acting was good, the direction was crisp and the computer effects were eye popping, I could not get over the fact that for a majority of it's running time I was bored. So I was nervous about going in to it's sequel, dreading a lack of development in either narrative or character and an overkill of well executed but ultimately empty action scenes.

Thankfully, 'The Hobbit : The Desolation Of Smaug' corrects all of the wrongs of it's predecessor and gives us a movie that hearkens back to the golden days of 'The Two Towers' and 'The Return Of The King'. At the heart of the story is the titular hobbit, played with neurotic erraticism by Martin Freeman who was clearly put on this Earth to play Bilbo Baggins. He is once again the centre of the piece and it becomes clear through the dialogue and the direction that the events surrounding the dwarves is not the focal point. It is the story of this little hobbit setting up the events that will lead onto the story that we all know as 'The Lord Of The Rings' and watching the origins of that bloody and cataclysmic tale that is the true drive of the narrative. Yes, the stuff with the dwarves is fun and exciting to watch, but it is for Bilbo Baggins that we really watch 'The Hobbit' movies; a little creature who finds a ring in a cave and begins a story far beyond anything he or anyone could have possibly imagined.

The dwarves are given a lot more room to develop their individual personalities in this film and this allows us in turn to become involved in their personal moral conundrums and their true wants and desires, making for much more three dimensional and much more interesting characters. Richard Armitrage is very good indeed in the shoes of Thorin Oakenshield, the rightful King of Erebor who is desperate to right the wrongs of his ancestors and bring the name of the dwarves back into esteem rather than ridicule. His morals and principals guide his actions and his emotions and it is for this reason that he one of the most elusive and mysterious of all the Tolkien characters. We don't always know what he is thinking and what he is planning and this does make for a much more layered and more realistic archetype to focus our attention on. The rest of the dwarves are very well portrayed too, even if the prosthetics do sometimes get in the way of the performances.

Of course with a title like 'The Hobbit : The Desolation Of Smaug', we know that it is only a matter of time that we see the eponymous dragon and when we do, my God what a dragon it is! Voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, he is manipulative, he is evil, he is scheming but he is also intelligent and highly articulate and all of these elements make for one hell of an antagonist. Added to this a fantastically immense design and a scale unmatched in fantasy cinema, Smaug is one of the most memorable villains of 2013 along with Khan from 'Star Trek Into Darkness' who was coincidentally also played by Cumberbatch.

With some scenes of genuine threat, 'The Hobbit : The Desolation Of Smaug' is a thrilling and sometimes authentically scary adventure that improves on everything that it's original got so wrong. Ending on the cruellest of cliffhangers, it is a film that tantalizes our senses and holds us in almost unbearable anticipation for the final chapter in this franchise. It's far from perfect but it is a definite winner in my book and I look forward to seeing it again very soon indeed.