The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, released in 2013 is the second installment of Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy. Like the previous installment of the trilogy the film is chocked full of extra stuff that is not in the book, some coming from suggestions made by the book, some coming from other Tolkien sources, and others purely fabricated by the writers of the film. The biggest of these fabrications, and one that I found quite irritating as it never happened in any history of Middle Earth, and would not happen in a history of Middle Earth is Tauriel (the Elf, who was not in the book, and was made-up by the writers), and Kili (one of the Dwarves), and how they have a love story. There was no reason to add this in, and served no purpose, and added nothing of value to the film. Also speaking of added elves, Legolas was never mentioned in the Hobbit, nor was Gimli, and though it would have been likely that Legolas would have been present during the events of the Hobbit, he was never mentioned. Another thing, which I failed to mention in the last review, which becomes even more irritating in this film is the feud between Thorin and the Orc Azog, Azog is not in the book at all, and the Orcs who are hunting the Dwarves in completely made up, and doesn't exist. This becomes more and more problematic as an added piece of the story because it becomes a central plot in these films, and it just doesn't happen in the book. This is a problem, because the Hobbit as is written is interesting and entertaining, it doesn't need a love story, it doesn't need Orcs with a vendetta, it doesn't need character tie-ins with The Lord Of The Rings that are not mentioned in the book. If someone is making a film of a great classic novel, just use the material that is there and your skills as a filmmaker to make that story come alive. This shit is unnecessary and adds nothing useful to the story. I will keep saying this, but, The Hobbit does not need to be a trilogy. One thing though that this film did do that was left out of the animated version was the inclusion of Beorn. I liked that chapter in the book so it was refreshing to see it included. However I am torn on the decision to include Gandalf's solo quest after finding Bilbo discovered the ring. Gandalf does leave the party in the group, but the book doesn't go into what he is off to when he leaves the party, there are hints but it doesn't follow him, because the book is about the Dwarves quest, and focuses on them, not on all of this side stuff, that has little bearing on the book the Hobbit, and is only in there to capitalized in the success of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy by adding in more tie-ins. A lot of these things added, add nothing to the actual story and do more to distract from the actual story. Like I said for the last film, this is not a bad film, quite to the contrary, however it has its problems and is packed with extra action, drama and a love story that is completely unnecessary. I do agree with the bad reviews that this film got, and it deserved every bit of those bad reviews. To make a novel the length of The Hobbit into a trilogy is nothing more than cashing in on the Lord of the Rings franchise. This is in part why JRR Tolkien's son Christopher hates the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies so much, so much in fact that he will not allow the other works that he completed of his fathers work such as the Silmarillion, Children of Huron, The Book Of Lost Tales or any of the other works. There is just a lot of unnecessary crap that is added that in this case actually radically changes the story line of the film. Before you totally hate me thinking I am just shitting all over this film, I want to talk about the visuals, acting, and more technical aspects of this film. First off the CGI is a vast improvement over the last installment and looks quite good through out, that mixed with the breathtaking sets works to create a beautiful film to look at. Again this is filmed in New Zealand, and it looks absolutely beautiful. The acting is also all done really well, most of the characters are really well cast. Some of the dwarves aren't quite how I pictured them, but they all still do a great job. From a technical point of view this film has few flaws, it looks good, it sounds good, the effects are are well done, the sets and imagery is all superbly done. On a technical perspective this is a very amazing and beautiful film. Would I recommend this film. I guess so, I mean I do think everyone should see this, but I also feel that everyone should definitely read the book, and see the story the way the author intended. I have majorly mixed emotions about this film, but will watch it, it is a great movie, but the contradictions with the book will always bother me about it.