Saturday, December 14, 2013

Review The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

IMDb

Title:
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Distributor: New Line Cinema
Director: Peter Jackson
Writer(s):  Fran Walsh (Screenplay), Philippa Boyens (Screenplay), and Peter Jackson 
Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Other Dwarves, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lily, and Benedict Cumberbatch as voice of Smaug
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images
Running Time: 161 min
Synopsis: The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring.


What Others Are Saying?


Rotten Tomatoes: T-Meter: 74% "Fresh", Top Critics: 68% "Fresh", Audience: 88% "Like It"
Metacritic: Critics: 66 out of 100, Users: 8.5 out of 10
MRQE Metric: 70 out of 100
My Review

Source Material: Based off The Hobbit, and other "Middle-Earth" books written by J. R. R. Tolkien.   

Entertaining Value:

  • Action Elements: Most of the action in this film is fun and a bit whimsical, don't get me wrong there are some bad-ass fights as well.    
  • Comedy Elements: The comedy in this film was there to off set the grim tone of Mirkwood, but personally I think there could have been a smidgen more.     
  • Dramatic Elements: The main drama in this film is seen in the form of characters reacting to the environment. There is also a small bit of love triangle going on.       
  • Sci-Fi / Fantasy Elements: "This film is set in high fantasy world called "Middle-Earth" with humans, dwarves, eleves, hobbits, and dragons.       
Cinematic Value:
  • Acting and Dialogue: 7: The cast for this film is phenomenal. I like see some of the old face like  Ian McKellen, and Orlando Bloom playing their respectable character from The Lord of the Rings. For those of you who thought Orlando played Bard as well you are wrong Bard is played by Luke Evans. (known for The Three Musketeers, and Immortals)  I agree he does have a similar face but I think he is a better actor than Orlando Bloom.                       
  • Art Direction: 9: New Zealand is the best backdrop for high fantasy worlds.     
  • Cinematography: 7: The winding camera motion in some of the sequence could cause vertigo especially in 3D, but over all it was well shot.    
  • Direction: 6: The film is a long movie, clocking in around 2hrs and 40min. So having few slower part in the center makes this film drag on a bit. I wasn't board but I knew I have been sitting in a theater chair for a while.                  
  • Editing: 6: I think they could have given Beorn the Tom Bombadil treatment. I feel like Beorn was good opening mysterious danger that the company has to face, but he didn't really do much for story thereafter. He gave the audience some exposition on the Mirkwoods and then gave the company some ponies that were only used to ride to edge of his proprietary.  
  • Screenplay: 7: I know the main buzz that has the fanboys panties in bunch is Legolas and Tauriel. Personally I'm fine with them being in the film and this is why. This film version of the Hobbit is Peter Jackson's interpretation of the Hobbit combined with other Tolkien works like The Silmarillion. Peter Jackson also has taken some creative freedom to create a bridge to connect The Hobbit trilogy to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. From my understanding Legolas and Tauriel are supposed to be one of the main catalyst between the two sets of films.              
  • Sound and Music: 8: I have always love the score to the Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit.
  • VFX: 9: It visual fx were great can't wait to see this in 48 frames/sec on Blu-ray and what not.   
Overall: 7: I really enjoyed this film over all, sure there was some stuff I didn't like but you get that with every film. I say go see it.