The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I had pretty high expectations for this movie. I was massively disappointed in the first Hobbit film and was definitely concerned that this would end up being a huge mess. Well it sort of was, but in a good way. The beginning of the film felt a little bit like the first and I got scared (I really just don’t care about this orc stuff), but once they got into Mirkwood, it took a turn for the better.
The spider scene was one I wanted to get over with as quickly as possible but that is something that traumatized me when I was a kid so it’s not the movie’s fault. It was great to see the elves back in action again. I always forget how much I adore Legolas until I see him again. And the addition of Tauriel was fantastic! Lee Pace as Thranduil was magical. Just the way he moves, he’s so elegant and menacing. Made me very happy. I could watch an entire film about the elves of Mirkwood.
Laketown! Laketown was so great! One of the problems I had with the pacing of the film near the beginning was the lack of love for scenery. There was a lot of movement and not a lot of time to sit back and enjoy the world. We got a decent amount of that in Mirkwood, but Laketown is where it’s at. Luke Evans as Bard and Stephen Fry as the Master of Laketown made me happy. Good choices casting folk. And I totally loudly said “That’s Stephen Colbert” when he had his little cameo. I bet he was over the moon to be in those 2 seconds 🙂
Smaug. Oh let’s please talk about Smaug. Talk about exceeding my expectations. Smaug was my favorite part of the cartoon when I was a kid and I knew casting Benedict Cumberbatch was the best decision they could have made. Smaug is like a Bond villain, pacing around and talking a lot when he could just be killing folk but that’s okay because he looks and sounds great doing it. I wasn’t happy when I heard they used a modulator to change his voice (it didn’t make any sense because have you heard that man’s voice? It doesn’t need any help) but I needn’t be concerned. The changes felt very minor.
So yes, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It’s not perfect and it’s not The Lord of the Rings, but it was a damn sight better than that first movie.