A joyful and absorbing adventure.

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2013)

As you would expect, this middle Hobbit chapter is much of the same as the first entry, and subsequently, the LOTR films. Which is either good or bad depending on your taste for cinematic Tolkien. Not being a rabid fan like millions around the world, I have nevertheless always delighted in these motion pictures for the enormous scale adventure and grand fantasy worlds they present. The Desolation of Smaug delivers on these fronts, particularly when it comes to the three major set pieces: a tango with spiders, an escape by barrels and the Smaug-centric finale. These action scenes are epic in size, funny in parts and gloriously crafted with a combination of practical effects and computer wizardry. Smaug himself, amazingly voiced and motion captured by Benedict Cumberbatch, is arguably the finest creation within Middle Earth - and that includes the often revered Gollum - however the shining moment within this movie is an awe-inspiring one-take sequence that sees Legolas (Orlando Bloom) coolly despatch a swathe of Orcs whilst travelling down a river. The more verbose sections can feel meandering - a chinwag between Kili (Aidan Turner) and Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) is yawn-inducing - and a couple of flaws in An Unexpected Journey are still present; most notably Gandalf's (Ian McKellan) annoyingly choosy magical powers and the lack of real danger to the band of Dwarfs (led by Richard Armitage's Thorin) accompanying Bilbo (Martin Freeman) on his quest. Minor quibbles aside, this second instalment is a joyful, absorbing and frequently comical two and a half hour saga that should be seen on the biggest screen possible.