The Desolation of Smaug Review

Hi ho, hi ho, off to the Lonely Mountain we go...

Photo by Mark Pokorny - © (c) 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.

Are we there yet Peter? How many hours left? I’ve lost track of time. 

The Desolation of Smaug has improved upon its predecessor in tone, promising a faster-paced, darker action adventure, and boy does it deliver action pieces in spades, however at times it does feel like overkill. Individual set pieces work quite well, but the narrative links are a bit rusty, the sequences are very episodic and bits of it play like a high-tech computer game; dare I say reminiscent of the Star Wars prequels?

Martin Freeman stands out amongst the dwarves, giving real heart and humour to the central themes of hope, courage and heroism. It seems however that Peter Jackson appears unfulfilled by Tolkien’s writings, instead finding a way to bulk up an otherwise short story by reimagining characters that were not present in the original narrative.  Most egregious of which is Tauriel, an elf warrior and the apple of Legolas’s eye, who has been not so cleverly shoehorned into Tolkien’s predominantly male ensemble of characters. An unnecessary appearance from Legolas Greenleaf is also completely unsolicited. Is it possible, in his old age, Orlando Bloom has become an even worse actor? Both elves are able to massacre hundreds of orc enemies without stopping to catch a breath or put on a Band-Aid, their CGI bodies bounding from rock to cliff face, remaining unscathed when all arrows have fallen. Yes, they may look fake, but what a wonderful showcase of computer technology. Luke Evans is the sole welcome addition to the cast as Bard the Bowman, the likable Lake Town do-gooder. Of all the director’s imagined characters, he feels the most in spirit of Tolkien’s book.

Unfair as it is to compare the story of The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings, Jackson seems to have forgotten that which made the latter stand the test of time. There's lots of action at play here, but very little consequence. There are fewer physical threats and more computer-generated creatures. Jackson’s perplexing choice to favour computer-generated backdrops and villains over costumed creatures and practical effects is oddly engaging. Unlike the original trilogy, many of the elves and dwarves look like they’re wearing costumes, and while the production design is unequivocally formidable, the post-production colour rendering is too cartoony for my taste; the grass a little too green, the forests look too much like a set. New Zealand is no longer recognisable.

The Desolation of Smaug still doesn’t reach The Lord of the Rings heights, and so the apparent need to tie together the franchises feels all the more frustrating. A good chunk of Gandalf’s gallivanting around reintroduces us to things we already know the outcome of. At a Bilbo baggy running time of a little under three hours, you’d think that such an inconsequential storyline could have been left on the cutting room floor.

Smaug the dragon (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) does finally show up around the third act and saves the film from being more than a bloated mess. He is easily the biggest triumph of the series so far, and the wordy sparring scenes between him and Bilbo have real merit. Maybe if he arrived much earlier, this whole ‘middle-chapter’ crisis could have been abated.

Unfortunately, a significant amount of charm has been lost from the book to the screen translation. What ultimately is a delightful children’s adventure has been turned into a sprawling 9-hour epic including unnecessary plot threads, computer graphicy action and ten or so too many tea parties. It’s hard to believe J.R.R Tolkien would have been entirely pleased at the turn his book has taken.