After a fun opening film that is flawed chiefly because it retreads much of the ground covered in The Fellowship of the Ring, the second in the Hobbit trilogy is the shortest of Jackson's visits to Middle Earth and has a much stronger pace to it. Here also is a chance to develop areas of Middle Earth largely unseen until now and the peerless design and location work of the film continue to amaze - the elf kingdom of Mirkwood, Laketown and, of course, Erebor chief highlights. The inclusion of elements not in the book are largely successful. Gandalf's investigations are fun, although chiefly designed to tie this trilogy to the Rings saga rather than form a part of the Hobbit trilogy. Legolas' inclusion and the creation of another elf, Tauriel, however is surprisingly well integrated and more than simply a cameo. The set piece action sequences are also much stronger - with no epic battle to rely on, Jackson seems to have upped his game - the chase along the river is great fun, as is the Dwarves' attempts to outwit the dragon under the mountain. Freeman also continues to impress and his confrontation with Smaug is a notable highlight of the film. It is a shame then that Jackson chooses to end this so abruptly, rather than at a natural resting point in the story, a departure from all the previous films and no doubt a result of breaking the films into three.
Review by Simon MasseyVIP 11BlockedParent2013-12-16T18:39:39Z
After a fun opening film that is flawed chiefly because it retreads much of the ground covered in The Fellowship of the Ring, the second in the Hobbit trilogy is the shortest of Jackson's visits to Middle Earth and has a much stronger pace to it. Here also is a chance to develop areas of Middle Earth largely unseen until now and the peerless design and location work of the film continue to amaze - the elf kingdom of Mirkwood, Laketown and, of course, Erebor chief highlights. The inclusion of elements not in the book are largely successful. Gandalf's investigations are fun, although chiefly designed to tie this trilogy to the Rings saga rather than form a part of the Hobbit trilogy. Legolas' inclusion and the creation of another elf, Tauriel, however is surprisingly well integrated and more than simply a cameo. The set piece action sequences are also much stronger - with no epic battle to rely on, Jackson seems to have upped his game - the chase along the river is great fun, as is the Dwarves' attempts to outwit the dragon under the mountain. Freeman also continues to impress and his confrontation with Smaug is a notable highlight of the film. It is a shame then that Jackson chooses to end this so abruptly, rather than at a natural resting point in the story, a departure from all the previous films and no doubt a result of breaking the films into three.