Review by Eric
Our epic journey continues in the second installment of The Hobbit. This sequel I felt fell a little short. One of these reasons is because I was under the understanding that The Hobbit was only going to be two movies long. Without giving anything away it is clear by the ending that this is the middle of a trilogy.
We don’t quite pick up where we left our favorite dwarfs in the first installment. We get a bit of a flashback into what led up to the first movie, which was nice. After seeing how Gandulf started the journey we reunite 12 months later to kind of where we left off.
This movie is an epic adventure, no doubt. The landscapes used for the movie are often breathtaking, at least when we are not covered in darkness. The fight scenes are intense. My favorite fight scene is in a forest with all the dwarfs and our hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, of course, fighting giant spiders. They fight from the tops of the forest canopy down to the forest floor. The visuals are amazing. This fight scene along with one on a river are reason enough to splurge for the 3D ticket. I did not watch it in 3D and I am usually not a fan, but if you have the extra $2, DO IT!!! I personally do not feel the story was good enough to go back and see it in 3D, but if you haven’t seen yet, I don’t think you’ll regret it.
The characters draw you in and I could feel my emotions come and go along with the story. There are moments that I was almost literally on the edge of my seat, but one thing that disappointed me, was the lack of Smaug. 
The subtitle of this film is “The Desolation of Smaug”. “The Hobbit” ended with Smaug opening his eye and you would have thought Smaug would have been at the beginning of the film. Smaug doesn’t show up until an hour and a half to hour and forty-five minutes into the film!!! The scenes with Smaug are again visually amazing and will leave you on the edge of your seat.
There is a lot in this movie about prophecy being fulfilled. The Dwarfs are getting closer to The Lonely Mountain and the people of Lake-town are excited to see them succeed because it will mean a better life for them. This time of year I cannot help but think of what people surrounding the birth of Christ must have been thinking and feeling. It also reminds me of what Jesus said to John the Baptist’s followers in Matthew 11:2-6 “Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.” What good and amazing news it is to hear and see prophecy fulfilled, especially the prophecy that has been fulfilled through our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Desolation is defined as, “a state of complete emptiness or destruction”. Well, this movie didn’t really have a lot of destruction and the only emptiness it had was the way I felt leaving the theater. It is the second third of a trilogy and feels very much like the middle of the story. It’s beginning is weak and totally needs the first movie as it is it’s true beginning. The ending of the movie was abrupt and leaves you hanging at the height of the plot. This movie as a stand alone movie is horrible. It needs the first film and the future last installment to really mean anything. It will be a good movie, when the last part of the trilogy ends the story for us.
Another issue that I have is Gandulf leaves the group and seems to go on his own epic adventure, but a good reason for doing this is never really revealed. We flash back to Gandulf when there is a lull in action with the main plot and we are in need of “excitement”.
Overall I give this movie a 3 out of 5. Mostly because it needs the first and third movies of the trilogy to support it. It is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images. Worth the 3D ticket for the visuals, at least they were enjoyable.
Good review Eric. Still long and a bit unnecessary, but overall, still a fun addition to a trilogy that needs to end on a good note.
Thanks. I agree it was long and does seem a bit unnecessary. I think the visuals and cool fight scenes saved it from being a total loss.
Hi Eric, bummer you’re not as fond of the film. Now, I don’t think this film is meant to be a standalone film, and I feel that it works well as a continuation of the first one and sets up what we’ll expect in the final one. I like what you said about the prophecy thing and for me it’s intriguing to see how the real significance of this long journey begins to be revealed. It’s not just about the Dwarves wanting to take back their gold from a dragon but there are more lives as stake. In that sense, the ending of this film makes sense to me. As far as the word ‘desolation,’ it also means ‘anguished misery’ and the Dwarves (especially Thorin) has been living in that state ever since Erebor was destroyed. So there is definitely destruction, with Erebor in a state of ruins and emotionally, the Dwarves are a wreck, living without a place to belong or self worth. Smaug himself is desolate as in godforsaken, living on that big palace surrounded by all that gold but he’s soulless and barren when there’s nobody there for him to taunt or destroy. That’s a pretty miserable life if you ask me, which is yet another synonym for desolate.
Hope you don’t mind the long comment, not trying to defend the movie as to each their own, but I happen to think it’s a good one 😀
Thanks for the comment. I like your insight on a different/deeper meaning of desolate. I hadn’t pondered that. I liked the movie, I just wanted more. I’m sure there are a lot of people that enjoyed it, which I did, but not sure it was needed. It almost seems they prolonging to story to get more money which is ironic given the fact the movie looks down on greed. Hmmm Thanks again for the comment!
Ahhh man, bummed to hear it didn’t live up to your expectations. This is probably one of the big worries with films that are trilogies from the start; that the middle third will feel like the middle of the story and be kinda boring.
Unfortunately, the second movie tends to be the weakest in many trilogies. While I liked this one, it was definitely weaker than the first, and I’m hoping the third will be better.
I think the third one will be the best one. I also think that once all three are out, collectively, this one will be better.
I put off reading your review until after I saw the movie. Well that was finally accomplished and let me say….Good review. However I don’t agree with some of your opinions… imagine that. 🙂 This movie was better than the 1st and quite possible my favorite of the year. Not that it was the best movie of the year. Some of the complaints you shared are the same complaints people have been making since the first LOTR movie came out. I even heard similar complaints about Catching Fire, which mostly came from those that either didn’t read the book or just don’t know anything about the movie aside from the title. So I’m going to vent a little, but it’s not towards your review, Eric.
It’s been common knowledge that there was going to be 3 movies before the first even came out. People always complain about them making extra movies and claim it’s because they want to make extra money…. Well if you don’t like it then don’t watch them. The money aspect is definitely a part of it, but the real reason for making multiple movies is so that they can tell the story properly and not just put out some half-baked movie. This is an epic tale that takes the story from the Hobbit and mixes it with the history from the Silmarillion. This can’t simply be done in 1 or 2 movies. It’s not just everyday that you get to bring to life one of the most popular book series in existence. If they remake it in the future it’s going to be a long time, so in my opinion they better do a good job the first time. Anchorman 2 and Dumb and Dumber are examples of movies that are just money grabs. True fans of the series will always be fine with more.
I do agree with a lot of what you said. The fight in the forest was great and the river scene might be the best fight sequence ever filmed. That scene was even better than the sequence in Avengers, where they pan from one hero to the next all in the same clip. Although some of the action was a bit far fetched, it was simply amazing and I loved it. Who’s to say what an elf can or can’t do! 🙂 In regards to the Desolation….Ruth made some great points. Also, it refers to the effect that Smaug had on Laketown. The ending was perfect in my opinion. That was a great place to stop, considering what is about to happen and how the story concludes. We watched this in the High Frame Rate 3D version, which is the absolute best way to view this film. The 3D is very well done and the high frame rate makes you feel like you are in the movie. Despite adding in some story elements that weren’t in the books, I really like what Peter Jackson has done with the story of the Hobbit. The final installment is going to be to the Hobbit, what Return of the King was to the LOTR trilogy.
Valid vent! I’m also jealous that you watched it in 3D!
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The movie had no substance. It’s just about killing like ALL these 5 movies so far. Plus the title of this one is a fraud since Smaug wasn’t destroyed e.i. Desolation.