Author Archives: Andrew Hales

***** SPOILER ALERT *****

This review will be discussing plot points which may be considered spoilers. Consider yourselves warned.

As I write this review I am in the middle of a Lord of the Rings marathon. I have to admit that going to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has put me in the mood for as much of Middle Earth as I can get my hands on. Unfortunately the reason I’m in this mood is because I’m longing for a good story from Middle Earth. As excited as I was for this movie, I afraid that it leaves much to be desired.

After an enjoyable introductory scene, much like those in Lord of the Rings, The Desolation of Smaug picks up just as Bilbo and the dwarves begin their passage into Mirkwood. I was pretty pleased with this portion of the film, but I just felt that it was over far too quickly. Several chapters of the book were dedicated to Mirkwood, and only around twenty or thirty minutes of the film were spent there. While the film portrays the confusion that the company feels admirably, it sets in far too quickly and then is resolved rather abruptly. This demonstrates the major flaw in the movie:  timing.  When these films were first announced, there were only supposed to be two films, but a third was added later. Regularly throughout The Desolation of Smaug some scenes which are canon from the books are compacted in order to make room from extra stuff, often to the movie’s detriment.

Now it’s pretty well known that I am a fanboy and that Lord of the Rings falls into the long list of things I love. Despite this love I am not a purist, which is to say I understand when changes must be made in order to actually make the film.  Some of this extra material I enjoyed—especially the parts which come from appendixes or other material from J.R.R. Tolkien. Watching Gandalf investigate and then confront the necromancer in Dol Guldur was great. This provides some great moments that really place The Hobbit in context. While the story is primarily about the dwarves’ return to Erebor, it is also the build up to Lord of the Rings, and there are scenes that allow us to see all the pieces moving into place.  My issue is that these changes come at the expense of the real story. Scenes from the book were compressed in order to make room for this extra material.

Shortly Bilbo will realize that there is a hole in his plan.

In other places, scenes were extended considerably. The prime example of this was the dwarves’ escape by barrel. There was a good long chase scene down the river that involved the dwarves getting away first from the wood elves and then from the same orc band that has been chasing them through most of the movie. Although an important scene in the book, and one that I have always felt was among Tolkien’s most clever, it was a relatively short part. Not only was this scene extended in the movie, parts of it became more than a little ridiculous. At one point the barrel carrying Bombur managed to get tossed out of the river and rolled down the river bank, taking out dozens of orcs in the process.  Then Bombur proceeds to pop his arms out of the barrel and take on several more orcs before jumping back into the river. Further on, Legolas rides down the river standing on the heads of two dwarves, all the while, shooting down orcs. This whole sequence becomes rather disappointing because of this outrageousness.

Still other portions are purely fictitious. The inclusion of the female elf Tauriel has no basis in the books. Her character was included almost exclusively to include additional female cast members, which is a questionable reason at best. I honestly didn’t mind her character, aside from the fact that she was obviously not part of the original book and therefore all her scenes seemed like someone trying to mimic Tolkien’s style. Tauriel also plays a part in the most egregious portion of the movie. During the barrel escape, Kili is shot in the leg by an orc and is eventually left behind in Laketown, along with three other dwarves, when the company proceeds on to Erebor. This whole plot point was completely unnecessary and only underscores the fact that the third movie should never have been added. If there were only two movies, filler material like this wouldn’t be needed and they would have been able to stick to the fantastic story that already existed.

One of many great Erebor interior shots.

After all of that, it probably sounds like I hated the movie, and that just isn’t the case. For one, the movie looked absolutely amazing. From the halls of the Thranduil to the Lonely Mountain, the entire movie was a visual treat. I’m especially fond of the dwarven style. It all looks very angular but refined and elegant in its own way. Unlike the orcs who are angular in a jagged and chaotic way, dwarf creations show considerable thought and skill. Beyond the look of the dwarves is of course their grand nemesis, Smaug. I could not be more pleased with the way Smaug turned out. It’s obvious that the Peter Jackson drew upon available sources and previous artist renditions of Smaug when creating the visual for the character. Especially when compared to Bilbo, Smaug appears as more a force of nature than a fellow cast member. The dragon is absolutely enormous and terrifying. Jackson must be a firm believer in “Go big or go home” because the movie makers went all out on Smaug.

This is the image of Smaug I always think of, and it was pretty spot on, aside from relative size.

In no way, shape, or form do I regret seeing The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, but I do think that there was plenty of room for improvement. The film suffered from being stretched too thin when it came to source material (like butter over too much bread), though when they stuck to the original content the movie was at its strongest. While not the movie I was hoping for, I am still excited to see the ending of the trilogy next year. Three out of five Death Stars.