Nightmarish and awful

Rating: 4/10 (25 May 2014)

I am not much of a Tolkein fan, but I saw the original LOTR film trilogy and read The Hobbit, and enjoyed all of it. The first Hobbit film was weak, but tolerable and full of atmosphere, but The Desolation of Smaug is downright awful.
I am not against making changes to a film's source material, that is, if it benefits the film or makes for a solid, entertaining story. The screenplay here is a big mess, with too many conflicting subplots which take away from the central story about the dwarfs making their way to the mountain. Why do we need that subplot with Azog? Or a bunch of needless tie-ins to the original trilogy? Or a silly love triangle which does little to contribute to anything? It's a shame that so much screen time is taken away from Martin Freeman, who without doubt gives the best performance.
The CG is especially horrendous and had me laughing aloud at several moments. The action sequences are so overblown and cartoonish. And why does Legolas' horse need to be CG?? Really? Does everything need to be a special effect? You cannot tell me they could not afford a real horse for just that one tiny shot! It's ridiculous.
At least this film wasn't Star Wars prequel bad, but that's about it.