Rating: • • • ½ (out of 5)
Age Recommendation: 10+
It's finally here; Peter Jackson's second installment in the
Hobbit trilogy hit theaters late last night. Naturally, I couldn't stay away. Now I'm someone who tries not to judge a book by its cover; likewise, I try not to judge a movie by its book. I try to treat source novels and their adaptations as separate but related entities rather than dwelling too much on the adaptation being "right" or "wrong." That being said, for those novel purists, you will probably have a fit when you see
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013). I've only ever read
The Hobbit twice, the most recent time being in preparation for
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), but I was surprised at how many plot alterations I noticed and can't help but discuss some of these differences here.
I knew there would be changes. I'm pretty sure everyone with any interest in the series did. I'd read in
Entertainment Weekly about this new elf girl "Tauriel" (Evangeline Lilly), so I was prepared for that addition, controversial though she may be. I honestly was fine with Tauriel's role which, although largely predictable, might surprise and even disappoint some viewers when it comes to romantic developments. If anything, her character is underdeveloped.
I was also prepared for Legolas (Orlando Bloom) showing up. Although I suspect the inclusion of Legolas has more to do with Orlando Bloom's huge fangirl following, I agree with Jackson's logic that Legolas might very well have been in the Mirkwood when Bilbo and the dwarves passed through; after all, his father
is King Thranduil (Lee Pace), who plays an important--but somehow very subdued--part in this movie. The real benefit of adding Tauriel and Legolas is for the ridiculous fight sequences. You thought Legolas skateboarding down steps on a shield was silly? Or how about that time he slid down a dying oliphaunt's trunk? These stunts are mere child's play compared to the humorous spectacle of butt-kicking Legolas and Tauriel delight viewers with.
I'm not saying the dwarves don't have their moments of physical humor (one in particular comes in mind, in the midst of the elves showing off), but the elves really steal the show whenever they pop up, which is a lot more frequently than those who have read the book might expect. After a brief flashback and nod to
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) to summarize the purpose of Thorin's (Richard Armitage) quest, complete with the town of Bree and another carrot-eating Jackson cameo, we jump right into the thick of things. Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), and the dwarves are on the run from the orcs (or are they goblins?) and their giant wolf steeds known as wargs... which is kind of where we left off, only with no mention of the eagles that saved the day.
Next we come to the "Tom Bombadil" of
The Hobbit, Beorn. I call him that because I understand this shape-shifting bear-man to be yet another beloved fan-favorite who could easily have been left out of the movie. This time, though, Jackson learned his lesson and left Beorn in, though I'll be curious to hear other viewers' reactions. Despite not being a novel purists, I was slightly bummed by the treatment of Beorn. For one thing, while being described as large and hairy, I don't recall Tolkien describing a weird nose. As with the centaurs in
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005), the extra make-up on Beorn bothered me; I think creatures that are supposed to have human features should have human features. Instead, Beorn looks a lot like Raw from the
Tin Man (2007) mini-series, which bothered me for all of the minute we got to look at him. While glad he was included, I was also irked by the removal of one of the
book's cuter scenes, the clever way Gandalf tricks Beorn (who hates dwarves) into hosting the whole group. Furthermore, there is very little explanation of this character and his strange lifestyle to those who haven't read the book, which might make Beorn's inclusion confusing.
On to the Mirkwood, the creepy old forest. Instead of the weeks of travel the original story describes, the dwarves and hobbit (Gandalf is off doing his own thing at this point, with a return of Radagast) quickly start hallucinating and give up. As a result, we miss out on two more scenes I was looking forward to: one involving Bombur and a stream, and the other involving feasting elves. As every evil forest in the history of fantasy seems to include, the Mirkwood has its giant spiders, though Bilbo is a lot less sneaky than he could be now that he has discovered the Ring's powers. Immediately after, we jump to the capture by Thranduil's elves. With the exception of the spider fight, these early-movie scenes all seem downplayed in importance--like they are mere nuisances rather than real dilemmas for Bilbo to solve. In fact, everything up to this point seems skimmed over.
Moving on, the party finds its way into the care of Bard (Luke Evans), who has been styled as a Will Turner (Bloom's character in the
Pirates of the Caribbean franchise) look-alike. Here we get a lot of dull repetition of the words "barge," "Bard," and things to the effect of "rebel" or "rabble-rouser" to explain the Master of Laketown's (Stephen Fry) distaste for the man. The most interesting thing about the Master is his hair, which is hideous on a level to rival the orcs. This whole segment is rather dull, as the Lonely Mountain is now in view yet we must wait to see Smaug, but Jackson switches things up by leaving three dwarves in the town and throwing in some rather pointless elves and orcs. Kili (Aidan Turner), as the most attractive dwarf, even gets his own little story line which references events from
The Fellowship of the Ring and overshadows Bilbo at times.
Finally, we get to see the legendary Smaug. As with his encounter with Gollum in the previous film, Bilbo finds himself using wordplay as a defense--this time against a giant dragon. This was well done, but I wanted even more. There are plenty of fight scenes that could have been cut to make room for more brilliant dialogue. Still, it is only once the Lonely Mountain is reached that viewers finally get to see a decent amount of Bilbo, who has been largely ignored throughout the movie if he is the central character as I believe him to be, before throwing in some final, somewhat confusing action sequences. As for the special effects, I am very pleased with the appearance of Smaug who, unlike the excessively ugly CG orcs, could not have been produced with mere makeup.
If you're still reading this, you're probably thinking, "Gee, Cinema Steph sure has a lot to gripe about--sounds like she didn't like this movie." That's not the case. Despite all my nitpicking, this is a movie that does what I like in a movie: it tells a story, and it entertains. This movie stands fairly well for part two of a trilogy.
The Desolation of Smaug leaves me wanting to watch part three, while sustaining a climax and conclusion of its own. Sure, there's very little prologue, and sure, I thought Bilbo should have more lines, but overall I am satisfied with movie.
Summary: There are several small to moderate changes for book purists to debate, but
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is full of the adventure we look for in these movies. The stunts are extreme to the point of silliness, the orcs are uglier than ever, and the role of the titular hobbit seems diminished, but the spectacle remains entertaining. What isn't an obvious nod to
The Fellowship of the Ring is for the most part delightfully fresh, and I recommend this film to anyone with any interest in fantasy adventures who can handle the sight of a decapitated orc, especially if you saw
An Unexpected Journey. If you have any interest in the series, go ahead and see it in theaters.
The Good: humorous action sequences, engaging story, lovable Bilbo, dragon CG and design nearly perfect, some witty lines
The Bad: soundtrack less memorable, predictable romantic developments, not enough Bilbo, Laketown seems like the plot stalls
The Even Worse: skims over or leaves out memorable parts of book, excessively grotesque orcs
