The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

I wrote about my background on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in my post on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey so I'm just going to jump right into this one and keep things fairly short. I found The Desolation of Smaug to be an improvement over the first. However, this is mostly because the characters and story are now set up and more fun by this point.

Unlike the first Hobbit movie, I watched The Desolation of Smaug in the theater in IMAX 3D with the 48 frames per second frame rate. Overall I thought it was a great, immersive experience. I can see why some people didn't like the look of the 48 fps as it does kinda have a shot on video feel and exposes the makeup a bit. I don't think that 48 fps will ever catch on for all movies as it simply isn't meant for that. There is no reason a Will Ferrell movie needs the high frame rate! However, for a film like this one on a big scope with a lot of outside landscape shots the 48 fps generally looks magnificent and the pros outweigh the cons.
The film's action and visual effects are excellent. My favorite scene was the barrel sequence which besides looking great flowed well and had nice choreography.

Other than the barrel scene, another standout moment for the special effects is Smaug the dragon. Smaug is brought to life by Benedict Cumberbatch who did a nice job not only voicing the character but also performing the motion capture for the role.
If you still can't get past the fact that Peter Jackson's Hobbit films are more prequels to his LOTR movies than an adaptation of the book, The Desolation of Smaug won't win you over. There is a love story added for the movie which involved one of the dwarves and a female elf. Although this subplot is unnecessary and could've been cut, I actually thought it worked well and fit naturally with the story. It also helped tie in the elves to this movie more which makes sense given the stronger connection to LOTR the Hobbit movies have when compared to the books.
The decision to make three movies out of The Hobbit is still a stretch but the pacing is better this time around. That said, The Desolation of Smaug leaves the story off near the end of the book. I guess this means we'll see a lot more of the final battles and there will be more added material in the next one. The final part of this film trilogy, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, comes out in December 2014.
7/10

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Before I talk about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey let me give you some background on my experience with this series. I watched The Fellowship of the Ring around the time it hit video and quite liked it. I then watched the extended edition when it became available. I went on to The Two Towers extended edition which I got halfway through before stopping after the first disk. I loved The Two Towers but got busy and simply never got around to finishing the rest of that movie or starting The Return of the King. Around the time I was watching the LOTR movies I decided to give the books a try. I got about 30 pages in before giving up as I found them dense and not my cup of tea despite liking the movies.
My brother is a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings books and movies and wanted to see The Hobbit movies. I wasn't really interested at first but he convinced me to read book before watching the films by telling me it's a shorter and easier read than The Lord of the Rings. Unlike The Lord of the Rings, I was able to finish The Hobbit and quite enjoyed it. It is aimed for a younger audience than LOTR which makes it easier to get into but it's still a fun read . After reading the book the decision to split The Hobbit into three movies made even less sense to me, but I still wanted to see what director Peter Jackson had in mind.

I watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at home so I saw it in HD and the regular frame rate. I recently watched The Desolation of Smaug in IMAX 3D with the high frame rate, but you'll have to wait for that post to see what I thought of it. While I liked The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, I think it is the weakest of the LOTR and Hobbit movies thus far. The book is the story of Bilbo Baggins and his journey for a share of treasure guarded by Smaug the dragon. This is still the plot of the movie, but An Unexpected Journey serves more to set up the events of LOTR since those books weren't planned at the time J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit. Therefore An Unexpected Journey is not just an adaptation of the book, but also a direct prequel to Jackson's LOTR films. Gandalf and Thorin are featured more than in the books, and there are characters from LOTR (played by the same actors, except for Radagast the Brown who was not featured in Jackson's LOTR movies) present who do not appear in The Hobbit book. Once you get over this, the long run time, and the overuse of CGI, An Unexpected Journey is still a pretty entertaining flick. Jackson's choice to make his Hobbit movies more direct prequels to LOTR does not seem to be a cash grab but out of his love for Tolkien. In the book there are times when Gandalf goes off to do things and in the movie we actually get to see these adventures. Although we don't get to know all of the dwarves individually, Thorin and his motivations are fleshed out more than in the book. Despite the changes from the novel, many lines are used verbatim in the movie.

I still feel that adapting The Hobbit into two movies instead of three would've been fine and even improved the pacing a bit. Purists might not be thrilled with the changes (mostly additions to the story) but I think Jackson took advantage of a unique opportunity to put his own spin on The Hobbit by tying it in closer to his LOTR films. Those who liked Jackson's LOTR movies but never read the books won't have to worry about the changes. However, they may still feel it runs too long for the story, especially considering the fact that the LOTR got as many movies as The Hobbit, which is a much shorter book in comparison. But at the end of the day if you liked the LOTR movies, you will probably still enjoy this one, though probably not as much.
6/10