A barrel of laughs for Smaugheads

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2014)

Because so many people have said this Hobbit instalment was mainly from the mind of Jackson and not Tolkien I was perversely looking forward to it. I used to wish I'd read all the books when I was younger, now I'm glad I never got round to it, the films are more than enough of an experience.
The band of bland dwarfs and hobbit continue their trekking across much real and cartoon scenery, facing many cartoon dangers but the whole story satisfyingly wrapped up in a gorgeously glorious and awesome triumphant conclusion of mythic proportions. Well, maybe not the last bit: the screen goes black which probably correctly matched the feelings of the audience with ten minutes of credits ahead of them. To cut to the chase: the almost endless barrel chase down the rapid river with elves and orcs battling it out over the dwarfs' heads - I haven't laughed AT a movie so much since Jackson's King Kong Brontosaurus stampede! But unintentionally laughing at a quality film is not meant to be a recommendation though. As it's mainly aimed at the gamer generations is there any characterisation at all, any interaction you can cherish, any character you root for, any race you feel master, in fact anybody you can relate to in here? In two and a half hours there are plenty of scenes to admire though: Galdalf's pointless but impressive separate quest before he realised he'd left the dwarfs in danger; Smaug's memorable erudite conversation with Baggins amidst the mountains of gold which has been raked in by the franchise, even though the caterpillar and Alice came to mind; the elvish and selfish city. As usual the cgi cartoonery veers between impressive and ridiculous – oh to be ten years old again! Overall and as a film I'll probably never watch again it was far more entertaining and cinematic than part 1; I made the most of it because I know the actual story will be flatly resumed in part 3.