Better than the first movie but far from "Lord of the Rings" level

Rating: 5/10 (20 December 2016)

This film continues "The Hobbit" trilogy, which is a prequel to "Lord of the Rings". However, after the hard failure of the first film, with obvious CGI exaggerations, miserably basic cinematography and several flaws concerning actors, it was hard to do worse with a millionaire budget. Thus, "Desolation of Smaug" is a general improvement without doing miracles. In this film, the company of Thorin Oakenshield finally reaches the lonely mountain, after some difficulties with the elves and a forced visit to Lake Town. However, increasingly powerful forces maneuver in the shadows and covet the gold of the dwarfs without them knowing.
I can not comment on how Peter Jackson and his team adapt the original material of J.R.R. Tolkien because I never read it. The actors were well. Ian McKellen plays Gandalf without much news to add. Martin Freeman continues to look like a solid Bilbo and plays his part without major flaws, as can be said of Richard Armitage (Thorin). This actor does an excellent performance, showing the gradual change of his character, more and more selfish and insensitive. Orlando Bloom returns to the role of Legolas, heir to the Elven throne, but it seems much more impersonal, mechanical and hard than it was in LOTR. Evangeline Lilly looks excellent as the sensitive Tauriel, just like Lee Pace, flawless in the role of King Thranduil, whom the misfortune of the dwarfs never moves. Smaug, the dragon, is not represented by any actor, its an artificial creation, but its an well thought-out character with a cruel personality, selfish and true hatred of the dwarfs. The action scenes are plentiful but continues to suffer with incompetent cinematography and a lamentable abuse of special effects that make everything artificial, pointless and devoid of emotions. The soundtrack, created by Howard Shore, is powerful, impactful and meets the expectations of the public.
"Smaug's Desolation" is not necessarily bad, it's even better than the first film of the trilogy. But it still looks like a show-movie, full of background noise, impersonal, artificial and unable to reach the audience. The sense of danger, the emotion, all that made "Lord of the Rings" a successful trilogy, has disappeared and only comes at very precise scenes.