![]() Richard Armitage continues to steal the show as Thorin, while Evans sets up the character of Bard for a payoff in the next film. He continues to get solid performances out of his cast, both from the new players introduced, and those from the previous film and trilogy. Unique settings and art design continue to make the series one of the most visually appealing ever made. Returning to Middle-earth is always a good thing, and the world building remains a highlight. That said, the film still retains the distinctive sprawling landscapes that helped make New Zealand a hot tourist destination. It makes you question the necessity of most of what you are seeing. Where the first film in the Hobbit trilogy was primarily focused on introducing the new characters to the audience, the second spends a great deal of effort setting up elements that won’t come to fruition until the next film. There is one in Desolation, but it feels watered down. Even in part two of three, a middle film needs to follow the same rules most films follow and have some form of climax. Desolation drags, especially in the third act of the movie during a lengthy battle with Smaug. Learning about the political problems in Lake-town is interesting, but it doesn’t help the films and slows things down. Whether you are familiar with the book or not, the material just doesn’t always merit the additional content. While these new introductions make sense to fill out a trilogy worth of films, it is still forcing the expansion of a single book that was never meant to be as sprawling as The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Gandalf’s (Ian McKellan) story is similarly elevated from minor side story in the books, to full on battle against the forces of evil. ![]() Characters like Bard the Bowman ( Fast and Furious 6’s Luke Evans), an important fixture of the books, now has his own story arc involving the corrupt Master of Lake-town. Some of the new material, like the character of Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), is purely the domain of Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh (with help from Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro), while the rest builds off of hints the book (and Tolkien’s notes) gave, but never went into detail on. Rosaline review: Kaitlyn Dever lifts up Hulu’s Romeo and Juliet rom-com riffĭecision to Leave review: An achingly romantic noir thriller ![]() Slash/Back review: The kids are all right (especially when fighting aliens) ![]()
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