Definitely more substantial than the other two Hobbit films.

Rating: 8/10 (25 October 2016)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is easily the most potent film in the now infamous trilogy of films based on JRR Tolkien's classic children's book, that would result in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy of novels. The second film in The Hobbit Trilogy is, I believe to be, the strongest out of the hastily extended three-part series; unfortunately, try as it may, it does fall short of the wonder The Lord of the Rings films gave audiences worldwide.
The Desolation of Smaug does have some notable set pieces in it, like the barrel sequence and of course Samug's scenes in The Lonely Mountain make for some very captivating scenes that qualify the story's controversial morphing into a three-part film. Benedict Cumberbatch gives a great motion-captured performance that shows one of the best looking dragons in film history, and The Desolation of Smaug was probably key to transforming The Hobbit into a trilogy, from the studio executive perspective at least. This film essentially becomes a villain showcase for one of the best dragons realized for the big screen.
I personally think that The Desolation of Smaug is the chapter that makes this (reluctant) trilogy show its worth: there are so many payoffs that the preceding film couldn't muster, thanks to there being more substance to this film than An Unexpected Journey.
This is the film out of The Hobbit movies that will (hopefully) convince naysayers to not ignoring the series completely.