A different kind of "desolation" happened here.

Rating: 4/10 (22 February 2014)

The first three Lord of the Rings movies were excellent. Gorgeous scenery, solid acting, wonderful soundtrack, and a decent script true to the books. The trilogy really brought Tolkien's world to life.
Then we had The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 2012. It introduced some new elements Tolkien never thought of and elaborated on some things he merely alluded to. This was a mistake, and many parts of the movie suffered from these artistic liberties brought it. There was potential though, so I hoped the next film would do more. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything good.
Desolation of Smaug continues what An Unexpected Journey began, sinking a fantastic series of movies even deeper into pathetic mire of misery that will make most Tolkien fans wince. This film is just terrible and 80% or more of it can be skipped over with no real loss.
Suspension of disbelief is out the window. Some scenes are BREATHTAKINGLY awful. I can't even begin to describe how utterly ridiculous and campy they are. Particularly the barrel-riding sequence. Desolation of Smaug devolves into something so unbearable, calling it "typical Hollywood" would be a compliment. It's trite. Banal. Hackneyed. Clichéd. Vapid.
I would rather watch The Room (2003) or Rubber (2010) every day for the rest of my life than sit through the entirety of this film again. I only give it a 4/10 because some of the scenery is decent, the actors did alright, and there's Lee Pace + Benedict Cumberbatch.
Script: 1/10. Acting: 8/10 if you consider how they acted instead of what they acted. Special effects: 6/10. Music: good, but not used appropriately in most spots, so 6/10. Amount of clichés: unbearably high.