What on earth was Peter Jackson playing at?

Rating: 4/10 (9 April 2016)

I thought the first Hobbit film, AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, was just about passable, although spoilt by the inclusion of random CGI action scenes and a general lowbrow comedy feel. Unbelievably, this sequel, THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, is even worse. Peter Jackson's once undeniable talents as a director seem to be rapidly departing him, as he's churned out a random CGI kid's adventure film which has virtually no resemblance to the middle section of the Tolkien novel.
The problem with this overlong and incredibly dull movie is the amount of extraneous material. Whoever thought it was good idea to bring back Legolas (complete with CGI eyes this time around) was an idiot. His ridiculous fight scenes are an embarrassment. I could just about cope with Arwen's presence in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, but Evangeline Lilly's presence here is unforgivable.
The CGI is constant and unending. Most of the backdrops are done with CGI, and even the orcs are now CGI too. They look poor, very poor. We even get CGI moths and butterflies and CGI bumblebees. Jackson has no idea that less is more when it comes to computer effects and instead keeps plonking them in constantly, resulting in a film which looks fake from beginning to end. Performances across the board are poor - the actors are merely required to interact with CGI scenery after all, and a sense of weariness and exasperation has set in - and the long-winded bit where Bilbo finally makes it to Smaug's lair is sleep-inducing, it's so dragged out. However, the stupid barrels-down-the-rapids sequence has to be the nadir of the whole thing...