BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Desolation of Smaug review

kittykat · December 13, 2013 10:03 pm

Okay, just got back from seeing it. I LOVED it!!

The opening scenes with Gandalf and Thorin in Bree were a suitable beginning, I think. The Prancing Pony is as creepy as ever XD And watch closely at the beginning for Peter Jackson's cameo!

There's a "Twelve months later" onscreen text with Bilbo scouting the area and warning the dwarves that something apart from the orcs is out there. Great way to get back into it because nobody needs introducing this time around.

The only gripe I have is that I wish the scenes in Beorn's house could have been longer. There might be more in the Extended Edition. But he's a good character. Bilbo is also falling under the influence of the Ring.

Into Mirkwood, which started off great as Bilbo climbs the trees. Then it turns into the spider attack, which left me shuddering! There's also something really creepy about Mirkwood, which you'll see for yourselves.

Legolas and Tauriel enter, and Bilbo goes a little crazy with one spider in particular. He disappears and the dwarves are taken to Thranduil, who is a totally nasty piece of work! So well played.

Now, when Thorin is thrown in jail he tells Balin that he told Thranduil to go and (insert offensive Khuzdul word here). Make of that what you will XD

The Kili/Tauriel thing...I think it's actually rather sweet, but maybe I'm biased because I'm in love with Aidan Turner ^^ He played the scenes with her really well, I think.

Soon on to the barrels, which is fantastic. The river chase is really good and full of action. Watch out for Bombur especially

Now, one of my favourite bits. Kili acts heroic but ultimately stupid, because he gets shot with a poisoned arrow by an orc. From then on there is clearly something wrong with him. I swear, Fili's face when his baby brother gets shot tugged at my heartstrings. And the way he screamed his name! Thorin also realises what happened and has an "oh shit" look on his face.

Leaving the river, Fili worries for Kili who is trying to downplay his injury. He practically refuses to leave his brother ^^

Bard is a great new character, and Laketown is a wonderful place. Stephen Fry is great! I won't reveal too much about the political stuff but it's interesting.

The dwarves leave Laketown. In the scene with them leaving, Thorin tells Kili to stay behind (he is very weak and still poisoned). But he does it in a rather loving way which I thought was great

And I swear on my Sherlock DVDs that Fili calls him Uncle ^_^ he ultimately tells Thorin that "I belong with my brother" and stays with Kili. Oin and Bofur stay too.

So with them in Laketown, Kili gets sicker and Fili worries even more. But Kili is saved in the end ^^ Aidan plays the scenes very well indeed, but I knew he would because I've seen him in Being Human.

Erebor; Bilbo plays a major part in getting them in through the hidden door. He's changed since the first film and is more confident now. You also get a sense of ease with him and Thorin here, since they've become friends. Smaug really is magnificent!!! He's totally badass and I think Ben did an amazing job!!!! A real villain, right there!

The dwarves' role in Erebor is expanded from the book, I think. They run around a bit to try and defeat Smaug and get the Arkenstone. Won't say much more, but Thorin is really strong here. Kudos to Richard Armitage at this point! And that cliffhanger was amazing!

Dol Guldur was chilling and very good! Ben again as the Necromancer, and he was speaking the Black Speech of Mordor too!

Best bits; Martin as Bilbo (what's not to love?), Thorin being a strong leader, Smaug, Kili side story (poor thing), Mirkwood and barrels

Worst bits; Wish Beorn's house could have had more scenes, but never mind. It's still good. The spiders, but only because I'm scared of them! High frame rate made me feel a little queasy, and it irked me that I couldn't see the characters' faces in the battle scenes. But that won't be an issue with the home release. Apart from that, there wasn't anything I didn't like ^^

Mary Me · December 14, 2013 6:32 pm

Just watched it. FANTASTIC.

Here a quick summary, without spoiling too much:
LEGOLAS.
SMAUG.
Tauriel saves the day
Bilbo you adorable thing
but what's up with Thranduil
Kili no
Thorin stop being selfish
MOTHERFUCKING LEGOLAS
MOTHERFUCKING SMAUUUUG

kittykat · December 14, 2013 6:48 pm

The whole side story with Kili and Fili was wonderful, but painful

Deilenn · December 14, 2013 8:45 pm

I must wait until the 27th to see it... I'm curious most on Benedict's voice as Smaug. And the whole that scene. Oh, and those with Thranduil too. :]

kittykat · December 14, 2013 8:54 pm

You'll love Smaug, he's brilliant ^^ The whole scene is great

Mary Me · December 14, 2013 9:33 pm

Smaug has got to be THE iconic film dragon ever.

kittykat · December 14, 2013 10:05 pm

Oh yes! He's a total badass ^^

sj4iy · December 14, 2013 10:17 pm

Honest Review:

It was a good movie. Had some parts that went on too long and not as much humor as the last movie, but overall, I enjoyed it. The dragon was great- it was wonderful to see Smaug's majesty, and the consummate Vs of his teeth XD A bit sad we won't get to see him burninating the countryside and the peasants until the next movie, but something has got to be left for the last installment.

If I had to change anything, it would have been cutting down the chase at the end with the dragon and the furnaces and adding in more of Mirkwood and Beorn's house. I probably would have changed some of the barrell ride- I was fine with changing it to be more dramatic, but I still don't get why the elves let the dwarves go after they had chased them that long. I didn't mind Tauriel, although I think that Arwen was written better. As far as the differences between this and the first part of the Hobbit, I thought the pacing was better- there were less lulls in action and walking.

Probably my favorite part after the dragon was the prequel showing how Gandalf convinces Thorin to go on the trip with him - it was very similar to the appendices from The Lord of the Rings- I'm glad we are getting the Necromancer incorporated in the movies- I think it will tie the two movie trilogies together.

Grade: 7.8/10.0

the_dancing_woman · December 15, 2013 9:42 am

We loved the film, and it didn't even feel that long. We were really taken aback when it ended so abruptly, which of course makes perfect sense with the third part coming up next year.
And I really loved seeing Smaug brought to life, he looked amazing, just the way I had hoped he would, and I also loved that at times one gets glimpses of who is really behind that dragon. Very cleverly done indeed by the people responsible for the animation techniques to create a completely otherworldly creature and still keep some of the traits of the person behind it.

As for the elves letting the dwarves get away at the end of barrell-ride scene, I didn't really get that either. Maybe because the only other option would have been to kill all of the dwarves, which would have been a bit over the top, since they hadn't really caused any harm to the elves, and elves are not really known to be ruthless killers when the don't have to and I think the elves and the dwarves bonded a bit while fighting the orcs in that scene.

I think the scenes in which Bilbo starts to feel the influence of the ring were acted out brilliantly by Martin.

Oh, and I loved seeing Stephen Fry

Last edited by the_dancing_woman (December 15, 2013 9:44 am)

Pav · December 15, 2013 1:24 pm

I liked the film very much but it could have been shorter (some things could have been in the extended version). Some parts were definitely breathtaking but I feel a little disappointed. It might be because I was looking forward to it very much and it didn't live up my high expectations. I didn't like the side story with Kili injured very much because they just repeated Arwen saving Frodo and the whole Kili-Tauriel thing was a little forced in my opinion. What I absolutely loved was Lake-town, Bard, Smaug, Bilbo and the ring, the scenes in Erebor, the conversation between Smaug and Bilbo and Gandalf in Dol Guldur. I think I will like it more when I watch it again.

kittykat · December 15, 2013 3:46 pm

I personally loved the side story with Kili being injured, Aidan and Dean did some fantastic work and I didn't even think about the Frodo/Arwen thing when it happened. Didn't cross my mind even once.

sj4iy · December 15, 2013 4:28 pm

I didn't necessarily dislike the Kili/Tauriel sidestory, but I agree with Pav...I immediately thought "Rehash of Frodo and Arwen".

kittykat · December 15, 2013 4:32 pm

I certainly didn't. Different characters, circumstances...I loved it and that's that.

sj4iy · December 15, 2013 4:46 pm

kittykat wrote:
I certainly didn't. Different characters, circumstances...I loved it and that's that.

No one's saying you can't We're just saying we didn't really love the way they portrayed it. I wish they had changed it up so that it didn't feel so much like Arwen and Frodo.

Last edited by sj4iy (December 15, 2013 4:55 pm)

Mary Me · December 15, 2013 7:28 pm

I agree with kitty here. I always thought that they should focus more on Kili and giving him a slight love story seemed like the perfect solution. It surprised me in a positive way because going by the trailers you'd have thought that they were going to create a romance between Tauriel and Legolas but that turned out to be mere friendship.
One of my favorite part was when Legolas fought the ork - it was a pretty authentic fight in my opinion.

kittykat · December 15, 2013 7:30 pm

Mary Me wrote:
I agree with kitty here. I always thought that they should focus more on Kili and giving him a slight love story seemed like the perfect solution. It surprised me in a positive way because going by the trailers you'd have thought that they were going to create a romance between Tauriel and Legolas but that turned out to be mere friendship.
One of my favorite part was when Legolas fought the ork - it was a pretty authentic fight in my opinion.

*hugs* ^^

b2s · December 15, 2013 10:10 pm

I'm a little surprised that the majority here seems to like the Kili/Tauriel story. I threw up in my mouth a little while watching the healing scene, soooooo cheeeeesy! To me the whole "bonding" between the two seemed forced and ridiculous but apparently I'm just a coldhearted old hag;D My highlights were the Mirkwood-Spiders, Beorn and of course Bilbo and Smaug... Just wow! What I really really hated was the whole " we-drown-the-dragon-in-fluid-gold-thing"... I get that you need some action towards the end but that was just so not well done...

kittykat · December 15, 2013 10:23 pm

The Kili/Tauriel thing never bothered me, I thought it was quite sweet ^^

sj4iy · December 15, 2013 10:52 pm

Just finished watching in the HFR 3D- I thought it worked well for the most part- you can really tell that they did it for the dragon...and that's awesome. LOVED the look of the dragon in 3D...you really get the sense of scale (no pun intended) in a way you don't get from 2D.

KeepersPrice · December 15, 2013 11:12 pm

Just got back from seeing it and happy to say it really held my interest (almost) from start to finish. I just thought maybe it was about 20 minutes too long at the end. I could have done without that one last Orc fight in the town. And there was certainly a lot of action with Smaug chasing the dwarfs all around and trying to roast everyone in his rage but I think I might have liked it better if Smaug was just a bit more cunning in his actions. The scene with Bilbo when Smaug first wakes up and discovers him was very suspenseful.

But I really like Martin in his role. You can see Bilbo evolving into a more confident character. I also liked seeing the ring starting to influence him and I loved the scene when he finds the door into the mountain. That actually gave me chills.

I think I'll go see it again when I get the chance.