Even though I am not a huge fan of Peter Jackson’s first attempt at translating Tolkien’s classic onto the big screen (but that’s a review for another day), I cannot deny that I let out a little excited scream when I saw the first Desolation of Smaug trailer a few days ago. WARNING THIS POST MAY INCLUDE SPOILERS!
Following a last minute escape from the pale orc, Bilbo and his companions must continue their journey to the dwarf land of Erebor in order to defeat the great dragon, Smaug……as the eagles that saved them could CLEARLY only fly them halfway to their destination. Regardless of the obvious plot holes however, there is no denying that the return of Legolas and introduction Smaug are enough to keep middle earth fans excited. The popular cast, of Martin Freeman, Ian Mckellen and co. re-appear for the penultimate part of the trilogy. If there is one thing that I would never criticize about this film’s predecessor, it is the acting, and I hope the well loved characters are presented as well as they were in An Unexpected Journey. Unsurprisingly, this film follows some of Jackson’s styles from the first film, including the controversial 48 frames per second camera’s, which possibly caused more debate than the actual film did. To add to this, the more childish personas from this tale, full of talking dragons and a weed smoking brown wizards return, which is undeniably a huge change to the darker and more war driven tales of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Desolation of Smaug also brings with it the addition of Benedict Cumberbatch, voicing the evil, gold crazed Dragon, and even the brief dialogue that fans have heard in the latest teaser trailer was enough to convince me that he is perfect for the role. The question is, can he be defeated by a tiny burglar from the shire? Well, as there is part 3 still to come in 2015, it shouldn’t be too hard to work out really!
3 things to look forward to:
- The return of Legolas: Orlando Bloom is reunited with his role as the arrow firing, Dwarf insulting, orc killing legend that is Legolas, and again if the trailer is any indication of what is to come, we should get more of the character we know and love from LOTR.
- The Pale Orc continues: I may be one of the few people who genuinely enjoyed the introduction of the Pale Orc, his story may well have been introduced purely to add filler so 3 films could be made out of this otherwise short story (as some skeptics claim), but for me the added narrative is still interesting and a rematch between the one armed monster and our team of hero’s is certainly worth looking forward to.
- Smaug: FINALLY, after so much hype and sitting through an entire first film only to find out that we won’t see the dragon for another year, Smaug will finally hit the big screen and if the incredible CGI in an Unexpected journey was anything to go by, it should be epic.
The Desolation of Smaug, is one of, if not THE most anticipated film of 2013 and I like many others can’t wait to flock to the cinema to see how chapter 2 of The Hobbit trilogy unfolds (Releasing December 11th)
(Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Hobbit_-_The_Desolation_of_Smaug_Teaser_Poster.jpg)
Jamie's Film Blog 
