Review of The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

CAUTION: SPOILERS

     Now that that is out of the way, let me get on to my review. First I would like to start out by saying how much I love The Hobbit the book. It was absolutely spectacular, easy to read, and immensely entertaining. I will admit, I did not read the book until I heard the movie was coming out, yes I know, shame on me. But nonetheless, I READ IT! Being a big HUGE Sherlock fan I was absolutely beside myself to find that Martin Freeman was going to be playing Bilbo. But when i found out that Benedict Cumberbatch would be voicing Smaug, I was ready to kiss Peter Jackson's feet.

My thoughts exactly Mr. Holmes.

     Anyway, onto the review. I am not quite sure how they are going to take The Hobbit and make it into 3 movies, especially with how they treated the second movie. Now don't get me wrong, I loved the first movie and the newest movie but being a book nerd, I had some issues. In The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, Peter Jackson had a lot to cover. The previous Hobbit movie ended when the Hobbits finally made it though the Misty Mountains. Now, if the movie goes according to the book, the Hobbits have to endure the Mirkwood Forest, meet Beorn, be captured by the elves and deal with the ever so sassy Thranduil, receive help from Bard, travel to the mountain, retrieve the treasure & kill Smaug. You would think, oh yeah Jackson can definitely make that into two more movies!! Wrong. Six of these seven tasks were covered in the newest movie...SIX.

     The Mirkwood Forest is a huge part in the book. It explains the fear and the darkness that the Hobbits feel while they travel through the Forrest without Gandalf who has seemingly just ran away after introducing the Hobbits to Beorn. Beorn's part in the book was probably one of my favorite parts of the whole book. A man who can change into a bear?! Sounds awesome! In the book, Beorn's "talking animals" serve and take care of the Hobbits and when the Hobbits decide it is finally time to continue on their journey, Beorn generously offers to look after them on their journey through the forrest, as a bear of course.  Was that in the movie? NO. In fact I believe if I would have counted, Beorn had one scene and said maybe ten words..MAYBE. I honestly think we only saw him once. Would Tolkien be happy with you Peter Jackson?

Here is your answer.

     After that, the movie slightly followed the book. I understand that movies have to add and take away things to make it appeal to all people not just nerds like you an I. I was iffy about the fact that they took out how sneaky Bilbo was when retrieving the keys after the elves had captured the Hobbits. It would have definitely added to the movie, but i suppose it was okay without it. I was okay DEFINITELY okay with the addition of Legolas. He definitely could have been alive in the book and just never mentioned. Plus, Orlando Bloom I mean..come on now. So thank you Peter Jackson. I also liked the addition of Tauriel, the female kick butt elf. I thought the love interest of Kili and Tauriel was very interesting. It seemed to me as though she never returned the interest, but somewhat entertained it. I guess we will see what happens there in the next movie.

     And well, to wrap the movie DESOLATION of Smaug, one would assume that the death of so called Smaug would be the obvious end of the movie..but no. After the Hobbits reach the mountain, without Kili, Fili, and Bofur because Kili had previously been shot in the leg with an arrow (not in the book), Bilbo proceeds to try and retrieve the Arkenstone from Smaug and also proceeds to make him angry. Way to go "burglar". Although his friends were not much help as Thorin became greedy and impatient and went in after the Arkenstone himself. Anyway, after the Hobbits try to kill Smaug with no avail, he flies away towards the lake town where Bard (their helpful and quite attractive friend) lives to destroy the city. That is how the movie ends. No desolation of dragons. 

So in the end, we end up with:

• No clue who Beorn really is (unless you read the book)
• No realization of just how sneaky and crafty Bilbo is and how big of a part this really plays in the whole book
• No idea of just how bad the Mirkwood Forrest really is
• A very hurt Kili (not in the book)
• And no desolation of Smaug

BUT there were some positive additions including:

• The beautiful Legolas
• The kick-butt girl elf Tauriel (girls rule)
• A very interesting love interest between Kili and Tauriel
• GREAT musical score
• Benedict Cumberbatch's very swooning voice

Overall I would give this movie 3 1/2 stars out of 5. I really did enjoy the movie. The graphics were great, the acting and casting was superb, the music was fantastic, and the effects were nice. If you have not seen it yet, then GO. But if you read the book, I warned you!