Friday, December 20, 2013

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)



Title: The Desolation of Smaug

Series: The Hobbit

Based on novel by J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, and Richard Armitage

Rated: PG-13

Released: 2013

Personal Rating: 4/6

Oscars: N/A

Plot: The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring.
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Unneeded Love Triangle
Now in a lot of stories nowadays there are love triangles. While sometimes they can work (my own love triangle in S and N is to show how Naz evolves during the series), a lot of times they're pointless like in the Twilight series in which you know Bela will end up with Edward. Never mind the fact that there are so many love triangles that people have grown sick of them. Enter Tauriel who is an original creation for this movie. She had the chance to be a kickass woman that needed no man or was in a relationship with someone. However, the studio made it so that there was a useless love triangle involving Tauriel, Legolas, and Kili. Don't they understand that the movie didn't need a love triangle, or any romance, for it to work?

Smaug
I am a dragon fangirl. I just love all the different types of dragons so a dragon being in this one was a big draw for me. And they did Smaug very well. The people who designed the dragon did an excellent job, but without Benedict Cumberbatch doing the voice and motion-capture it would mean nothing. How Smaug moves and talks is so creepy and yet enticing at the same time. I'm actually going to be sad to not see anymore Smaug after the next movie.

The Ending
I, and everyone else, knew that there was going to be a third movie. So I knew there was going to be a cliffhanger. However, this movie's ending felt more like it was taking place in the middle of a scene. I don't mind cliffhangers (well I have a love/hate relationship with them) and this one just didn't really do it for me.

Final Thoughts
I disagree completely with The Hobbit being made into three movies. The book is shorter than any one of the Lord of the Rings books. Three movies makes it clear that this is a cash grab. That being said...I will still see the final one. Visually these movies are just beautiful and there are enough good things to hold my interest. And I'm highly biased for this movie since there is a dragon and he's shown as something not easy to defeat. I'm hoping that the love triangle goes nowhere next movie as I'd prefer Tauriel to be on her own as to not dignify the love triangle with a 'satisfying' ending.



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