The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
Baggins; now in possession of the ring, the Dwarves, and Gandalf proceed on their quest to reclaim their homeland from he Smaug.
23 November 1974, Wellington, New Zealand
15 January 1965, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, UK
13 January 1977, Canterbury, Kent, England, UK
13 September 1979, Manila, Philippines
1 December 1976, Auckland, New Zealand
February 28, 2017
If the finale is exhausting, for the most part the first half of The Desolation of Smaug is invigorating and frequently exhilarating.
June 21, 2016
Yes, this is evolution in the right direction, but now it's time to take that energy and give us a final chapter that will move and inspire as well as dazzle.
December 13, 2013
With the introductions and bag-packing out of the way from the first film, the new movie jumps straight into the action and doesn't relent until the cliffhanger ending almost three hours later.
May 23, 2016
The most fun part of the film comes as the dwarves flee the elven holding block in oak kegs and shoot down whitewater rapids through a gauntlet of orcs.
December 13, 2013
Desolation of Smaug looks as dreary as the title would lead you to believe. The whole thing lingers in the memory as piles of sludge and ash.
December 13, 2013
Be forewarned: Whether through ego, avarice, or unchecked enthusiasm, Jackson has wandered deep into the realm of fan fiction.
December 13, 2013
I'm not an aficionado of J.R.R. Tolkien's wonderworlds and I was bored with the first Hobbit movie. All this is by way of saying I quite liked its sequel and the second in the trilogy.
December 13, 2013
For the casual but compelled moviegoer, The Desolation of Smaug is a fine improvement over the first offering. Tolkien aficionados may feel otherwise.
July 14, 2016
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug manages to zip nicely along. Yes, it's 2 hours and 40 minutes. But it doesn't really feel like it.
May 23, 2016
Middle-earth should never feel this middling.
December 30, 2013
The tale has no emotional resonance, and the thinness of the plot (only five of the book's chapters are adapted here) and the colorless depictions of the leading characters do it no favors.
May 23, 2016
If you are content to spend as much time in Middle Earth as possible, you'll have plenty of fun with this year's installment. But if you're a stickler for literary accuracy and pacing, the offering may prove only slightly less frustrating.
