Better than the first one

Rating: 8/10 (17 September 2019)

I was also quite excited for this movie. And even today, I'm very pleased with it. It still has a couple problems, but they're kinda small. The CGI is still pretty good, especially on Smaug, and the practical effects are even better. The music is really nice. The action is great. Very fluid. The characters are still very likable even though the dwarves aren't very fleshed out. The acting is pretty good, though a lot of that comes from Martin Freeman as Bilbo and Ian Mckellen as Gandalf. And the movie has a good runtime. It's nicely paced. Doesn't feel too long or too short.
Overall, The Desolation of Smaug gets an 8.8/10 (Great)