The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) Review Thread

[RandyK]

Rate and post your thoughts and opinions on The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Opens Friday, December 13, 2013.

(Created this so we have a dedicated thread for The Desolation of Smaug instead of cluttering up The Trilogy thread).

[Blu-Benny]

going to see this 2morrow night w/some buddies......can't wait!!

[kopkiwi]

Review certainly isn't in keeping with what mates who have seen thought, nor of the critical reviews for it.

Friends absolutely loved it. Those that didn't like AUJ said this was the opposite and they can't wait to see it again.

Quickly losing interest in the movie reviews here to be honest....

[chris_sc77]

Currently the RT score is 72% fresh with all critics (83 reviews)
and only 64% fresh with top reviewers.

[RyanPom]

I always wonder why when Gandalf is on these posters, he's never holding his staff?

[Abdrewes]

[Spot reserved]

[GC Riot]

I kind of agree with this site's review, but I'm being more generous and giving out a weak 8/10. No real spoilers here as most has already been seen in trailers that I know of.
The orch/elf/dwarf-barrel down the river-action scene was incredible, Legolas was more bad-ass than he's ever been, and Smaug is an incredible creation voiced to perfection by Cumberbatch.
It really is overly long though, and the finale is borderline overkill when it comes to CGI and spectacle, to the point that it just numbs you and you start to lose interest in the end.
More memorable than the first one in the end, but not really up to the standard of the first trilogy. The HFR seemed quite a bit improved to my eyes as well, it really did look spectacular with nary a single shot looking weird (Took me a good 20 minutes to adjust to the first film last year, and even after that it still looked a bit iffy at times).

[AndrewFM]

The review here on Blu-ray.com has some incredible innuendo:

"“The Desolation of Smaug” doesn’t course-correct in the least, with Jackson dropping a familiar number two into the laps of fans,"

He does WHAT?

"...once again trying to force Tolkien’s square work into a cinematic round hole."

Into WHAT?

[jurassic_pork]

Going to special showing tonight...so I'll provide some added insight.

[The Fallen Deity]

I'm off to see it tomorrow night in 2D, I can't wait.

[RandyK]

Just saw that a theater roughly equidistant from my usual theater is getting this in HFR!!!!!!! So excited!

[prozacnation1978]

Going tommorrow night. Imax 3d.
Can't wait.

[Batman1980]

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is set to dominate the box office this weekend, though the middling response to the first movie will mute grosses a bit this time around. Meanwhile, Tyler Perry's A Madea's Christmas should leverage the strong Perry/Madea brand in to a robust second place debut.

Desolation of Smaug is the second of three Lord of the Rings prequels, and reaches theaters almost exactly a year after The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Coming off The Lord of the Rings movies—undoubtedly one of the most successful and beloved franchises ever—An Unexpected Journey was a massive box office success ($300 million domestic, $1 billion worldwide). Unfortunately, reactions were somewhat mixed: while the movie satisfied die-hard fans, casual viewers seemed to be more lukewarm.

Typically, when a first installment receives middling reactions, the second outing takes a hit at the box office. Recognizing this, Warner Bros. has put together a marketing campaign that seems tailor-made to address the complaints with the first one. Instead of focusing on the dwarves and Bilbo, advertising highlights the return of fan favorite character Legolas, and introduces a butt-kicking female elf Tauriel (played by Lost's Evangeline Lilly). Ads also hype up the confrontation with the dragon Smaug, which is the kind of exciting set piece that the first movie lacked.

Finally, recent material has attempted to make the "quality" argument, with one critic quote in particular suggesting that the movie is an improvement over the first. Critics do seem to generally agree that Smaug is a step up, though the movie's 73 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes still pales in comparison to the nearly universal love for the Lord of the Rings franchise.

Unfortunately, the more exciting marketing effort and marginally better reviews are unlikely to completely undo the damage done by An Unexpected Journey. It also doesn't help that there's more competition in the marketplace this year: holdovers Catching Fire and Frozen are still making money, A Madea Christmas should open well, and Anchorman 2 is just a few days away. An Unexpected Journey opened to $84.6 million—don't be surprised if Desolation of Smaug starts off closer to $70 million.

Regardless of how it does at the domestic box office, though, Smaug is still going to be a success thanks to its worldwide appeal. While it may not be able to match its predecessor's $714 million overseas haul, it's hard to imagine it earning a dime less than $600 million.

Source - http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3762&p=.htm

[Pondosinatra]

I just want to know if it sucks as much as The Hobbit did?

[Mandalorian]

Got my tickets for tomorrow morning at 11:30am. Was going to see American Hustle, but I don't want to wake up early enough to go to the theater that has it.

[Mandalorian]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

I just want to know if it sucks as much as The Hobbit did?

Since The Hobbit didn't suck, I'd say no. But I can't verify that until tomorrow.

[thelwig14]

Saw it today. Definitely much better than the 1st but still breaks my heart Jackson went the heavy cgi route on everything. It just removes me from the flick.

If you liked the first one, you will love this, but I don't think it will change the minds of the first trilogy diehards.

[toddly6666]

This was the best middle cliffhanger movie I've ever seen since Empire Strikes back - much more satisfying than Two Towers, Catching Fire, and Matrix Reloaded.

[L.J.]

My son and I are going to try and go this weekend, if not next weekend.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

This was the best middle cliffhanger movie I've ever seen since Empire Strikes back - much more satisfying than Two Towers, Catching Fire, and Matrix Reloaded.

What's the cliffhanger? Unless they deviate massively from the novel, it's pretty obvious how the third film will go and eventually end.