As filmgoers, I believe the
one thing we want more than anything is the sense that a movie is taking us
somewhere worthwhile. It must have an clear sense of direction and purpose,
and even if the destination turns out to be compelling it’s bound to feel hollow
if the journey wasn’t of equal quality. This is the problem that has faced
Peter Jackson throughout his return to Middle-earth, and his decision to split
J.R.R. Tolkien’s 300-page The Hobbit
into three 150-minute blockbusters has come under fire right from the get-go.
As it turns out, last year’s first installment An Unexpected Journey was more slog than spectacle, and while it
rebounded impressively in the final act it was unable to justify Jackson’s
method of adaptation. The new middle installment, subtitled The Desolation of Smaug, is at the very
least a considerable step in the right direction. There is still an abundance of filler to
be found, and it ends on a frustrating cliffhanger that only accentuates how
incomplete these first two installments feel, but with this film Jackson seems
much more in command of the overblown epic he is creating. It still doesn’t
need to exist as it is, but at least now it is a lot more fun to sit through.
The always-delightful Martin
Freeman returns as Bilbo, and with this film his role in the main story finally
begins to increase. Where in the first film he spent most of his time standing
around looking frightened, here he finds himself in situations where he must be
the one doing the fighting. His arc remains the most fascinating one, and with The Desolation of Smaug we see a certain
loss of innocence starting to take hold. Part of that is the danger of the
situations he is in. The other is a certain ring that he came across in the
first film, but that probably won't be of any significance going forward. The goal in this film
is the same as the first: enter The Lonely Mountain, retrieve the Arkenstone
from the evil dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch), and allow Thorin Oakenshield
(Ruchard Armitage) to once more become King of Erebor. An Unexpected Journey covered just the start of that quest. As the
title of this new film suggests, this time they actually come face to face with
the dragon himself.
There are several subplots,
as you might expect about a 161-minute film that covers just the middle third
of a rather simple story. Orlando Bloom’s fan favorite Legolas shows up to do
various Legolas things, and with him comes a new elf by the name of Tauriel
(Evangeline Lilly), who must wrestle with her feelings for both Legolas and the
dwarf Kili (Aidan Turner). Our old friend Gandalf (Ian McKellen) ventures off on
his own to go face-to-face with the Necromancer (Cumberbatch, again), whose
identity turns out to be even more sinister than initially thought. Lastly, there is Bard the Bowman
(Luke Evans), a man who lives in the Lonely Mountain-adjacent Lake-town. He is
father of several children who repeatedly call him “Da,” and he’s developed a
slightly antagonistic relationship with the town master (Stephen Fry).
If this all sounds a bit
overcrowded, that's because it is. But this is nothing new to Jackson’s work in Middle-earth. The Lord of the Rings always had a
million things going on at once, and Jackson is quite skilled at bouncing
between them and making them all feel vitally important to the larger conflict.
This mostly holds true with The Desolation of
Smaug, though the plots involving the quest to the mountain and Gandalf’s
little side adventure still seem a bit too detached to fully cohere. However, having
to juggle all these plots may actually work to this film’s benefit. An Unexpected Journey really had nowhere
to go besides the main group of heroes, and thus for long stretches it appeared to be treading water. By giving himself all these new characters and
stories, Jackson is able to give
Desolation a sense of forward momentum, no matter how manufactured it may
be. Last time around, it felt as though Jackson made a 150-minute movie just
because he believed that’s how long it had to be. Here he comes much closer to
earning his running time.
Even so, it’s still a
needlessly protracted endeavor, even if he’s found more elegant methods to
bloat the story than the first time around. Long sequences are devoted to
characters talking about how bad things are about to get, and certain
digressions—like an early stop at the house of the shape shifting Beorn (Mikael
Persbrandt)—seem mostly useless in hindsight. Jackson is clearly affectionate
toward his version of Middle-earth, and he deserves to be, but there is a point
when the audience would prefer the film just gets on with it. Even though The Lord of the Rings movies got a bit
long in the tooth, every new development was being driven by the
story. In The Hobbit, too many
moments feel like they exist for their own sake.
Nevertheless, when Jackson
decides to get down to business, he gets
down to business. This was the case with the last hour or so of the first
chapter, and there are several sequences in Desolation that recapture the magic audiences are looking for.
There is one long chase sequence in which many of the protagonists are floating
down a river in large barrels, and while a couple moments verge on the
cartoonish, it is mostly a thrill that recalls the great combat sequences in
the original trilogy. However, the film is never better than when Smaug himself
enters the picture. He is a mammoth, menacing, gorgeous creation, and the moment he
reveals himself is chilling in all the right ways. It provides fine proof that
even after five films, Middle-earth can still find unique ways to surprise us.
Grade: B
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