Directors: Peter Jackson.
Cast: Luke Evans, Martin Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Aidan Turner, Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Billy Connolly, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, Evangeline Lilly, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen and Lee Pace.
Genre: Adventure/Adventure/ Fantasy.
Run Time: 2hr and 20 min.
Rating: 7/10.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the sequel in director Peter Jackson’s three-part adaptation based on JRR Tolkein’s 1937 novel The Hobbit.
The first film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), began with the recruitment of an unlikely and reluctant hero, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), a shy hobbit to join a band of 13 dwarves on a grand adventure. With the nudging of the wise wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), Bilbo accepts to join the mission to journey to the far-off Kingdom Under the Mountain, the ancestral home of the dwarves, which many years earlier was conquered by the dastardly dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch of the Sherlock Holes series). Once there they are to recover the most treasured treasure of all — the Arkenstone — and destroy Smaug. The first film left them only half way on their adventure and with this new film, the crew must continue the perilous journey in order to restore the throne to the dwarf race.
Thumbs Up
It is quite the entertaining adventure, stunning visuals, catchy one liners, memorable fighting scenes and creepy creatures. If you are a fun of action, then this film will keep you entertained, it is non-stop action from the begging up to the climactic confrontation with Smaug.
Thumbs Down
The effects of stretching a 310 -paged book into a trilogy shows, and it becomes evident in some of the film scenes, which are overstretched with no value added. As a result, it feels longer than it needs to be. The film is also riddled with many unnecessary side shows.
Verdict
It is a thrilling fantasy action adventure that will keep you entertained from beginning to end.
