The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Martin Freeman has hairy feet again and is still hanging out with a bunch of dwarves. The dwarves are still looking for gold and are heading towards a mountain where there is some. In this mountain there is also a stone that looks suspiciously like the galaxy marbles from Men In Black. Richard Armitage reeeeeaaaallllly wants this stone so that he can become king of the mountain and dwarves again. Problem is Benedict Cumberbatch is in the way and has wings and a terrible attitude. Also going on is Sir Ian McKellen trying to figure out who the dark wizardy guy is that is sending his albino orcs to kill stuff.

I will admit that I wasn't 100% sold on the first hobbit film. Don't get me wrong I really liked it but it had a lot to live up to in the shadow of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. This second section of the Hobbit story on paper should have a little more to it than the first. Luckily it met these expectations and more. The story is developed well and there isn't any 'dwarves having dinner for 40 minutes' nonsense going on. The moment all Hobbit fans were waiting for however must be the meeting with Smaug the dragon which is frankly outstanding. The CGI is beautiful to look at and Benedict Cumberbatch's voice is perfect to add power and gravitas to the big fiery one. His interaction with Bilbo is by far the best thing in the film and it is stunningly well done. The rest of the cast are equally perfect in their roles with Richard Armitage in particular pulling a sterling performance as Thorin Oakenshield. Now I know there are some slightly odd additions to the story, namely Legolas appearing earlier in the story than he should and Evangeline Lily's brand new character, but putting the source material aside for a moment they actually work pretty well. The greatest compliment I could pay to the film is the fact that despite the 3 hour running time I didn't want it to end. Loved it.

Verdict: 5/5