The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

[ticklishfan]

Seeing it tonight, looks a lot better than the first one from reviews and previews. How about you guys?

 

[Zachariah]

Right now I probably won't see it until Christmas but hoping sooner.

 

[ticklishfan]

Good movie. Definitely better than the first one like I thought it would be. Kind of dragged out it some moments, and some other scenes I thought weren't necessary, but overall good movie, Smaug was a beast!

 

[theshire]

I thought it was great. I really enjoyed the first movie, too, and disagree profoundly with the naysayers who have dismissed what Jackson is doing with this trilogy. I would say that [minor spoiler alert] it seemed as if the Dwarves gave up a bit too easily when they couldn't find the secret door into the mountain [/minor spoiler alert], and that their plan to kill Smaug bordered on the ridiculous, but overall I thought it was a blast of a movie and I already want to see it again. Then I want to see the Extended Edition. Then I want the next film to get here already.

But I guess my name kind of gives away that I am rather fond of this stuff. 🙂

 

[SadCuzNotTcklsh]

Smaug steals the show I hear. True?

 

[theshire]

Smaug steals the show I hear. True?

Depends on how you define "show-stealing". I would actually argue that the re-introduction of Legolas and the invented character of Tauriel "steal the show" to a greater extent than Smaug, but he is still a mighty fine piece of work, for sure.

 

[DontAskJusTckle]

Spoiler Alert!

I finally saw The Desolation of Smaug day before yesterday. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Even two weeks into it's run the theater was packed. I was blown away by it, but much of that is because I'd read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings numerous times as a teenager and young adult. To see these old stories brought to life on screen is very fulfilling. I am completely enamored of Peter Jackson's works.

I had no idea The Hobbit was going to be a trilogy. I had entered the theater fully expecting a conclusion. I think it was a brilliant move on Jackson's part to do so, because it allows the story to be told in so much more detail. I also think it was good foresight for Jackson to do LOTR first, and The Hobbit afterwards, even though in book form the Hobbit was released first. That way he could include familiar characters such as Galadriel, Saruman, and Legolas, who as far as the books were concerned weren't introduced until LOTR.

Jackson took a few liberties with LOTR and many more with The Hobbit, but so far I've approved of all of them. For example, in the book, Bilbo had packed each dwarf in a barrel and they rode down the river completely sealed in their barrels. But in the movie version they ride in the barrels openly. This gave opportunity to a much more exciting action scene.

As The Shire pointed out, there is a new character Tauriel. All you Lost fans will recognize her as Kate, but sans "freckles." I'm thinking even Sylvan Elves don't suffer from skin irregularities. The relationship developing between her and Kili adds some romantic drama to the mix.

From the books, we knew that the White Counsel (Gandalf's order of which Saruman was leader) had driven the Necromancer out of Mirkwood only to discover that it was actually Sauron of old, feigning defeat only to reestablish himself openly in his old stronghold of Mordor. But there was never any play by play accounting of it. It was mentioned in The Silmarillion, but not in much detail either. We're finally getting it in these Hobbit movies.

Looking forward to the next installment.

I'm wondering if Jackson or perhaps somebody else isn't already thinking of the next trilogy, The Silmarillion! Now that would be cool.