When Smaug slowly emerges from the massive pile of treasure at the heart of the Lonely Mountain, making only his eyes visible and keeping his immense size a mystery from the audience, the young nerd deep inside of me was just about as gitty as you can be. I was hooked, drawn into the world of Middle-earth in a way I never imagined possible again, especially after the first part of this Hobbit trilogy, An Unexpected Journey, turned out to be such a massive disappointment.
If there’s one thing I can say for certain about this latest Hobbit film, The Desolation of Smaug, it’s that it’s better than its predecessor in nearly every way: It’s more exciting, the story is more coherent, and the photography is a hell of a lot better. Yes, when compared to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the adventures of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and the dwarves of Erebor falls short. But if Desolation is any indication of what comes next, The Hobbit trilogy may yet be able to craft its own unique take on the world of Tolkien — assuming Peter Jackson stops pushing hard for this to be a prequel, and allows this adventure to stand on its own two feet.
