The Desolation of Smaug. Or, as I have heard it described, the Desecration of Tolkien. For some parts of the movie, I agree with that analysis, but after reading some articles on the background of some of the additions, I wasn't quite so upset with Peter Jackson.
This review would have been earlier in coming, I didn't get it done right away after seeing the movie the first time so I just waited until I had seen it a second time, which happened yesterday. We went to see The Hobbit and Grace and I wore our Hobbit shirts and cloaks into the theater. :)
If you don't want SPOILERS, you can stop reading right here until you have seen the movie or if you don't care if I give something away. :)
Are you still here? Ok, here is my (spoiler-filled) review of the movie.
I was pretty excited for this movie, and while it was a pretty good movie, I still preferred An Unexpected Journey over this one.
Ok, so now for my review. I am going to put the names of the soundtracks and then put what I thought about what was going on while each song played.
The Quest for Erebor- I thought it was cool how they showed Gandalf talking to Thorin and telling about what he(Gandalf) and Thrain had talked about at their last meeting. I don't remember what the purpose of the men who were watching Thorin was or if they didn't say what there purpose was, but it still gave some cool backstory. I also loved the Peter and Katie Jackson cameos with Peter in the street with his carrot (as seen also in the Fellowship of the Ring in Bree) and with Katie being the server who Gandalf tells to get him "the usual". :)
Wilderland- I must admit, the first time I saw this scene, it took me a little bit to figure out where the company was and what they were doing, but after I thought about where they were at the end of the first movie, then I remembered.
A Necromancer- I know that the Necromancer is evil, but he was still pretty cool, especially with Benedict Cumberbatch voicing him. :)
The House of Beorn- I was kind of looking forward to the Company approaching Beorn's house in the way that they did in the book, but Peter Jackson evidently didn't like it the way. :( I was wishing though that they would spend a little more time at Beorn's house though. The visit seemed very short.
Mirkwood- The movie makers did a very good job of making Mirkwood look like it had a disease. You could also tell that the forest had a disease by the way it affected the dwarves and Bilbo. I was expecting Gandalf the leave the Company as he does in the book so I knew what was happening as soon as I saw Beorn at the top of the hill. :) I was kind of hoping for them to do the scene with the river that Bombur falls into, but in watching the movie, I kind of forgot about it and didn't miss it until the end of the movie when I realized it had been left out.
Flies and Spiders- I was really hoping that the spiders would talk, as there was talk before AUJ came out that the trolls and the spiders wouldn't talk, but I was glad that they talked and I thought it was cool that Bilbo could understand them when he put the Ring on. I also loved when Bilbo kills the spider and picks up the Ring and says, "Mine" and then proceeds to name his sword Sting after what the spider had said as he killed it. :)
The Woodland Realm- The Woodland Realm was cool and kind of reminded me of Lothlorien except that Mirkwood looks like Fall and Lothlorien seems have a blue glow to it reminiscent of Winter. I liked watching the elves fight, especially watching some of the things that Legolas and Tauriel did, even though I don't particularly like either of their characters.
As I said, I don't like Legolas or Tauriel or his fondness for her, but I especially don't like the love triangle between Legolas, Tauriel, and Kili. It just annoyed me and I think it would have been better if they had left it out.
When I first heard of Tauriel being added, I wished that it was just and rumor and wasn't grounded in truth, but seeing as it was and she was in the movie, I would just have to deal with her. After seeing her in the movie, I don't find her quite as annoying as I thought she would be.
Thranduil drives me nuts, and for most of the scenes with him in them I just felt like smacking him. He just sounds so insincere, especially when he tells Thorin, "I offer you my help." I don't blame Thorin for turning down his offer. I would too if the person offering it sounded that way. The part where his face starts changing and then goes back to normal is just plain weird though, and if someone could explain that part, I would appreciate it. :)
Feast of Starlight- I thought that Tauriel and Kili talking about how they felt about the stars was cool even though I still don't like the love story between them.
Barrels Out Of Bond- I love how Bilbo sets the dwarves free and sends them down the river in the barrels and then realizes that he has to get out too. Martin Freeman's facial expressions are perfect here and throughout the movie. When I saw pictures of the dwarves in barrels without lids with elves chasing, I didn't know how it would work out. It did work out though, and I should have trusted Peter Jackson even though he I don't like other things he has done with this movie, as I have probably made clear throughout this post.
Anyway, the barrels scene, I didn't like Kili getting hurt, but there is evidence that Tolkien had him get hurt in the book(aside from what happens in There and Back Again) and that he later decided to take that part out.
Bombur's fighting, while it was a little out there, was still pretty cool.
The Forest River- I think that Legolas standing on top of the dwarves was a pretty cool stunt, but if I had someone standing on my head, I would probably be thinking the same thing as Dwalin. "Get off of my head!!" :)
Bard, a Man of Laketown- Bard is a pretty cool character and so are his children. I love how he agrees to help them, even if it is just for money in the beginning, but then keeps helping them without asking for more money later.
The High Fells- I don't really remember anything that happened during this track so I will just go to the next track. :)
The Nature of Evil- I think that Benedict does a great job of playing the Necromancer. Sometimes I forget that he's the one voicing it.
Protector of the Common Folk- When Bard plays on Alfred's conscience in order to get the dwarves in without being seen, you can see a glimpse of humanity in Alfred, but only a glimpse, the rest of the time he doesn't even seem human. He also reminds me of Grima Wormtongue, except that Alfred has eyebrows. ;)
Well, seeing as I'm only half way through the soundtrack, I had better split this into two posts. But if you've stayed with me through this one, maybe you'll join for the rest of my review tomorrow or later this week. :)
Morgan
What did you think of The Desolation of Smaug?
