The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Review

After a brief scene where Gandalf is seen meeting Thorin, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ‘continues’ as the company of Dwarves, Hobbit and Gandalf continue to try and evade Azog and make there way to the Lonely Mountain. The first Hobbit film (An Unexpected Journey) had numerous issues, many of which this film also carries. The little doubt I had after viewing An Unexpected Journey that their was simply not enough material to create a three part film series on The Hobbit has completely evaporated as it has become abundantly clear that their simply isn't enough material.

The first most obvious issue is exhibits itself at the start of the film with the Dwarves, Hobbit and Gandalf continuing to try and evade Azog, which seemingly ignores the ending of An Unexpected Journey. At the end of An Unexpected Journey the Dwarves, Hobbit and Gandalf where saved from Azog by Gwaihir (essentially very large Eagles) and flown what seemed to be quite some distance away from Azog. Yet at the beginning of The Desolation of Smaug, Azog is seen to close to the point that they are hiding in sight from him. They also seemed to be rather close to the Lonely Mountain yet somehow seemed to have moved further away from the mountain in the Desolation of Smaug. This last point is admittedly nitpicking at best, but as the film as a whole is once again unnecessarily bloated it remains noteworthy and the apparent changed distance from the Lonely Mountain does underline one of the major flaws present and that is the film. The Desolation of Smaug is simply far to bloated and far to little seems to be happening in far to long of a time. Their are far to many scenes and characters that are not only unnecessary but slow the film down to the point that I struggle to think of a film that had as much action as this film, yet manages to be as slowly paced. The action itself is admittedly mostly well staged but there is simply far too much action present and as a result that action scenes like the film as a whole begin to drag on.

More problematic then the bloated nature of The Desolation of Smaug is the lack of any sense of danger for the main characters. The Dwarves and company are put into numerous situations that should elicit a sense of danger. But as they are continuously unscathed as they are thrown around, poisoned and even essentially surf melted gold with nothing more then a wheelbarrow it is hard to care for anything that is happening on screen as their is nothing at stake. This further makes the already overwhelming amount of action to not only drag on, but to be a chore to sit through. The one exception to this is the introduction of Smaug which is simply superb. Although much like the rest of the film the scenes with Smaug soon begin to drag on as Smaug fails to hunt down the Dwarves and Hobbit for what was far to long of a time.

Characterisation is also almost completely absent from The Desolation of Smaug, and much like how the start of The Desolation of Smaug seemingly ignores the ending of the first Hobbit film it also ignores the little character development that was present in An Unexpected Journey. This is most notable for Thorin in An Unexpected Journey and how his views on Bilbo had changed. Such issues combined with the amount of unnecessary scenes and bloated run time only further solidify that The Hobbit should never have been made into a three part film.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is an overly bloated film full of far too much action and far too little characterisation. This along with a lack of any sense of danger results in a film that is uninteresting to watch that does not come recommended.

Note: Whilst more a comment on the technical side I fell compelled to mention the films use of HFR. This is especially the case as The Desolation of Smaug and An Unexpected Journey are the only films with a wide release to be shoot and be viewable in such a way. HFR simply stands for high frame rate and as was the case with An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug has been filmed in HFR at 48fps as apposed to the usual 24fps (meaning the number of images a displayed every second is doubled when compared to more or less every other film that has ever been release [there are some exceptions of course, most notably with older silent films before 24fps became the used ‘standard’]). I simply cannot say enough good things about the use of HFR, it provides for a very surreal presentation with everything appearing extremely smooth and lifelike. Likewise the use of 3d especially when combined with the films use of HFR is equally impressive and well worth the extra cost of admission for those who simply must see this film. The only down side to HFR is it can make the at times less then stellar production values extremely evident. This is of particular note as The Desolation of Smaug is extremely inconsistent with it use of cgi. Most scene do look spectacular but on occasion the use of cgi is overly evident and looks more like what one may expect from a film released well over a decade ago.

Most Anticipated Releases for the Remainder of 2013

As we move out of the  winter (or summer depending on where you live) blockbuster period and towards the award and Christmas movie release schedule the quality of recent releases can become rather heterogeneous. It is a time of year where we often find some hidden gems or films with niche audiences released (like the recently released Riddick). Sadly it is also a time when studios often release films that are expected duds in terms of quality presumably to try and take what advantage they can of what tends to be a less competitive release schedule. Despite this their are several film releases I am anticipating. Below are my most anticipated titles for the remainder of 2013.


The Counselor

My main interest for The Counselor comes from the involvement of Ridley Scott who is of course directing and Michael Fassbender (who was easily the highlight of Ridley Scoots most recently released film Prometheus). I do have some concerns and reservations regarding this film which I justify based on some of the issues present in Ridely Scott's most recently released film Prometheus. In spite of these concerns I cannot wait to see how The Counselor turns out. I however am disappointed that both Ridely Scott and Martin Scorsese have seemingly abandoned 3d despite numerous comments both have made and of course as both Prometheus and Hugo are simply breathtaking in 3d.



The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

No doubt an obvious choice and one that needs little explanation, afterall how many times can one here and read that it looks to be a fun filled fantasy adventure film. Admittedly The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was a colossal disappointment and its trailers (especially the teaser) where even more tantalizing then what we have seen for The Desolation of Smaug (which looks as if it could also contain more fan service then I would like). None the less the prospect of seeing the next chapter still has me excited. It also helps that it has been shoot at 48fps (often refereed to as HFR) as apposed to the traditional 24fps which provides for a much smoother image and an experience that currently cannot be experienced at home. Furthermore it also stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug and The Necromancer (both of which briefly appeared in An Unexpected Journey) and who doesn't want to see that?



Carrie

Carrie is easily my most anticipated film for the remainder of 2013. I am far from a large horror fan and remakes are something I am usually not all that fond of as they are notorious for adding little that the original didn't already cover and are far to often simply terrible films (this is especially true when it comes to remakes of horror films). However in this case I have not seen the original film and some excellent 'remakes' such as Let Me In and The Girl With T he Dragon Tattoo coupled with some excellent trailers has me thrilled to see how Carrie turns out. Hopefully it is not only a good film but provides a new twist on the source material so that it can stand on its on and not be viewed as simply a remake of a much better film (as Let Me In was able to achieve which also starred Chloë Grace Moretz).