Review of The Desolation of Smaug

This is an older post I never forgot to post and thought it would be appropriate to post so I’m doing just that. Enjoy. 

It’s December, and for some, that means decking the halls with lots of holly. For others, it means wielding ice stalactites like spear, defending oneself from the horde of Christmas carolers.

Plastered to my face as I gorge on overpriced popcorn is a huge, happy, gormless grin. That’s because for me, December means Hobbit season.

I went to the theatre alone, partly because I didn’t want my friends’ laymen understanding of the story to disrupt my popcorn eating and movie watching, but mostly to formulate my own, unbiased opinion on the film.

Like the first Hobbit film, I watched no trailers, read no articles or reviews and sat in my seat completely virgin to Peter Jackson’s rendition of the story. And like the first Hobbit film, I loved it.

Peter Jackson hasn’t let me down. In many ways he is a surgeon, dissecting the episodic nature of The Hobbit, by J.R.R Tolkien, and reconstructing it into the classic three-part trilogy. I explain it to my friends like this —Think of Star Wars, in Return of the Jedi (the first movie), nothing that crucial happens. *Cough, Deathstar, cough* In The Empire Strikes Back, SHIT GOES DOWN. It’s widely considered the best Star Wars film to date. The final movie, A New Hope, has everything resolved and wrapped-up nicely. Classic trilogy.

The Hobbit seems to be going in this direction and I don’t have a problem with it.

As for the story, It’s a decent enough adaption of the book. Although, I think Tolkien would have a thing or two to say about the skittles-vomit color palette. But that’s okay, sprinkle in some lore, a dash of elvish, add one or two giant spiders and let sit for 3 hours.

You need to go into The Hobbit expecting a loose translation of the story, or else you’re setting yourself up for failure.

As long as it’s Tolkienian at heart that’s all that matters. Middle-Earth is grand, teeming with dirt-caked goblins and everlasting elves. But even grand is an understatement. A poet laureate would have a tough time penning Middle-Earth’s beauty. The Hobbit is another 3-hour window into this magical world.