Movie Review: "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" (2013)

Movie: "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
Director: Peter Jackson
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 41 minutes

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Bilbo (Martin Freeman), the Dwarves and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) continue their quest to reclaim the dwarves' homeland of Erebor from the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). They must also obtain the Arkenstone, which gives Thorin (Richard Armitage) his rightful place as king. They must travel through Mirkwood forest, home of the Wood Elves, all while bring pursued by a pack of Orcs. Even when they reach their final destination, they will face their most dangerous task: Smaug himself.

Can we just all agree to have Benedict Cumberbatch voice everything and everyone for the rest of eternity??? :)

MINUS ONE ENTIRE POINT FOR THE SCENE WITH THE GIGANTIC SPIDERS THAT NOW CURRENTLY HAUNT MY DREAMS.

This is another great installment of "The Hobbit" trilogy! It seems the action has been kicked up a notch in this second installment, and yet a lot of "walking" still remains. As with the previous films, Middle Earth looks amazing, and the digital effects cannot be beat. The Wood Elves make their first appearance in this movie, including Legolas (Orlando Bloom), who does not appear in the book, and as added as an addition tie-in with the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The fighting sequence between the Wood Elves and the Orcs and and the Dwarves was bad ass! Luke Evan does a great job as Bard of Lake-town and plays the voice of reason in a town willing to face the wrath of Smaug the dragon for the gold in the mountain. And, he's not too hard to look at, either. ;)

Now, can we talk about Smaug?!?! WOW! He was AWESOME!! He visually looked stellar, and Cumberbatch has that perfect, deep and sinister voice for a dragon/bad guy/anything ever. The entire scene with Bilbo and Smaug was tense and had such great dialogue between the two characters. Gold Smaug was even more awesome and fabulous...watch the movie and you'll see what we mean. #Flawless

The ending.....well, you'll see it coming, but it's still annoying when a movie just cuts to black. With "The Hobbit" movies, they are more of a theatrical mini-series as opposed to 3 separate films, since they are obviously all derived from the same book. But, instead of waiting one week or a couple of weeks like a cliffhanger on a television show, WE HAVE TO WAIT A WHOLE GODDAMN YEAR (OR MORE) FOR ANY SORT OF RESOLUTION and that is awful for someone like me with no patience.

Overall, a great installment, can't wait for the final movie!

Plus, Ed Sheeran sings the theme song to this movie. POINTS!

My Rating: 9/10
BigJ's Rating: 10/10
IMDB's Rating: 8.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 75%
Do we recommend this movie: ABSOLUTELY YES!!!
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To see our review of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," click here.

To see our review of "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," click here.