Some disappointing things, many good things and one magnificent asset- liked it very much

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2013)

Having really enjoyed An Unexpected Journey, though it was a long way from perfect, last year, a family cinema outing for this was guaranteed. And it was worth the wait, Dad and I liked it a little less than my brother, sister and godparents(die-hard LOTR and Hobbit fans by the way) but all of us found a lot to enjoy, more so than An Unexpected Journey. Desolation of Smaug also shares imperfections, Azog is still a very one-dimensional villain and doesn't add a lot to the story(Bolg is no better either actually); the love triangle felt forced and shoe-horned in for the sake of it, including a bit that is like an inferior copy of Arwen and Arogorn; Beorn is criminally underused and any signs of development with him is rushed; the Mirkwood scene is far too short though the atmosphere was good; Gandalf deserved more to do with only his encounter with Sauron and perhaps the beginning really standing out for him; and the ending is very abrupt with a pointless, too long and really overly-silly battle between Smaug and the dwarfs(Smaug's final line was incredibly chilling though!).
Moving on from the debits, the film does look amazing. I liked that we saw more locations and that the film has a softer, darker yet more storybook-like feel to it than An Unexpected Journey. The attention to detail in the costumes, make-up and sets(Laketown is fantastic) is remarkable, the photography is beautifully transitioned and atmospheric and most of the special effects are great, especially with Smaug, Sauron and the spiders and excepting the flowing gold and maybe Azog. The music in equal turn is ethereal and haunting, not the most memorable stuff that Howard Shore has written but it fits perfectly within the film. The script has a better balance between the comedic and dramatic, in fact the humour is subtle while taking much more of a serious approach than to An Unexpected Journey without being too morose. It's thought-provoking too, and Smaug's lines especially in his taunting of Bilbo and when Bilbo implores him from not attacking Laketown are just chilling.
The story gets much more to the point than in An Unexpected Journey and the pacing is swifter with generally more dramatic tension(if not always consistent). There are some great set pieces too, Bilbo's encounter with Smaug is the highlight of the film, tense and brilliantly written, though the spider scene is appropriately sticky and matches it in tension, Gandalf's encounter with Sauron was brief but visually stunning and the barrel-on-the-river scene while on the over-exaggerated side is a lot of fun, inventive and thrilling. The acting is good, Martin Freeman is still appealing in a curmudgeon sense, Ian McKellen is still perfect as Gandalf(even doing things that you do not expect someone of his age to still do, but he should have had more to do), Richard Armitage is a brooding presence and succeeds in showing Thorin's worse qualities and Ken Stott stands out among the dwarfs, he is fun and wise here. Orlando Bloom has some charisma, Lee Pace plays the morally ambiguous character of Thranduil just right(he does come across as a douche but from a moral perspective he is an interesting character) and the astonishingly beautiful Evangeline Lilly brings some real heart as the most likable character of the film.
Stephen Fry chews the scenery amusingly, Sylvester McCoy does respectably with Radagast wisely being given a backseat and Bard is well played. The best asset of the film though is Smaug. Right from his design, the best-looking dragon design since that for Dragonslayer. To how cunning, manipulative and physically mighty he is. And to Benedict Cumberbatch's(one of the most talented actors to date) booming, sly, sinister and really quite phenomenal voice-work in definitely the most evil role he has done to date. The film absolutely nails the scene between Bilbo and Smaug, and Smaug and Cumberbatch have much to thank for that, as well as the writing being the best it is. While the film is not faithful at all really to Tolkein's The Hobbit apart from some details- it's often more Lord of the Rings-feeling(though not as good) than The Hobbit- the first half of the scene between Bilbo and Smaug does show clear evidence of fidelity, with the dialogue almost straight out of the book.
Overall, judging it as a stand-alone- which in all honesty it deserves to be, one of those things that I'm getting sick of repeating but it's necessary because of how much of a problem it seems to be(not quite as bad as people having no regard for other people's opinions and making out they're the only ones that are right, there's a lot going on here too)- The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug was a flawed but very entertaining film and superior to its predecessor from personal opinion. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox