The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Country: US/NZ
Technical: col/2.35:1 161m
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Benedict Cumberbatch (as Smaug)
Synopsis:
Bilbo journeys with his dwarf friends through the Mirkwood and beyond to Erebor, rekindling in his wake the partiality of the Wood Elves and the generations-old prophecy of the destruction of Laketown.
Review:
More than before, Jackson abridges and amends the action of the book to forge a link with the Lord of the Rings trilogy that went before, and provide the obligatory Elf-on-Orc scraps and a decent enough chunk of screenplay for the eponymous dragon to sink his chops into. While the former are swift becoming monotonous in the favourability of their outcomes, the latter is not without some awesome pieces of cinema amid the bombast of production design and visual effects. Whether this episode will satisfy purists is a moot point; at best it provides a suitable bridge passage for the outer portions, in true trilogy tradition.
Country: US/NZ
Technical: col/2.35:1 161m
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Benedict Cumberbatch (as Smaug)
Synopsis:
Bilbo journeys with his dwarf friends through the Mirkwood and beyond to Erebor, rekindling in his wake the partiality of the Wood Elves and the generations-old prophecy of the destruction of Laketown.
Review:
More than before, Jackson abridges and amends the action of the book to forge a link with the Lord of the Rings trilogy that went before, and provide the obligatory Elf-on-Orc scraps and a decent enough chunk of screenplay for the eponymous dragon to sink his chops into. While the former are swift becoming monotonous in the favourability of their outcomes, the latter is not without some awesome pieces of cinema amid the bombast of production design and visual effects. Whether this episode will satisfy purists is a moot point; at best it provides a suitable bridge passage for the outer portions, in true trilogy tradition.
Country: US/NZ
Technical: col/2.35:1 161m
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Benedict Cumberbatch (as Smaug)
Synopsis:
Bilbo journeys with his dwarf friends through the Mirkwood and beyond to Erebor, rekindling in his wake the partiality of the Wood Elves and the generations-old prophecy of the destruction of Laketown.
Review:
More than before, Jackson abridges and amends the action of the book to forge a link with the Lord of the Rings trilogy that went before, and provide the obligatory Elf-on-Orc scraps and a decent enough chunk of screenplay for the eponymous dragon to sink his chops into. While the former are swift becoming monotonous in the favourability of their outcomes, the latter is not without some awesome pieces of cinema amid the bombast of production design and visual effects. Whether this episode will satisfy purists is a moot point; at best it provides a suitable bridge passage for the outer portions, in true trilogy tradition.