The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Director: Peter Jackson
Writers: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro.
Based upon The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Released: December 2013
Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch,
Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt and Orlando Bloom
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This movie is about three hours long, but I felt like I was in the cinema a lot longer than that. Perhaps because we went to the midnight premiere. Being in a theatre until three in the morning can be tiring…

However, despite not being too fussed about the Lord of the Rings trilogy, or anything to do with The Hobbit, I did enjoy this film.

Despite not seeing the first instalment, I certainly found The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug  entertaining.

Well shot, incredible visuals, powerful Howard Shore pieces and a fun storyline! Actually, it was quite funny – particularly the ‘barrels on the river’ scene. Absolutely absurd! Yet brilliant! …you’ll know it when you see it.

There are wicked scenes and it was quick-paced for the most part. But I must mention the exhausting monologues and the drawn-out scenes. It was easy to lose interest during these parts.

I’ll tell you this for free: if Peter Jackson let his movies be edited down to no more than two hours long, I think they would be highly rated by a much wider audience. But I guess he has captured an extremely devoted viewership.

Fair enough though. His films tend to be vast and epic to say the least.

I feel like this movie needs two ratings. For The Hobbit fans, I’d say you will adore this movie and a 7.5/10 would be about right.

However, for those of us who appreciate the movie for what it is, and are not affected by the hype, I think a 6.5/10.

Jodie’s rating: an average of 7/10

As a side note, the scenes that included a dark forest with giant spiders reminded me of
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Remarkably similar.