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) The group eventually comes face to fire-breathing snout with Smaug, the last great dragon of Middle-Earth. As the group battles spiders, shape changers, and orcs, they continue on their way to the Lonely Mountain, passing through Lake-town on the way. The Desolation of Smaug picks up right where An Unexpected Journey concluded, with Thorin, 12 dwarves, and one hobbit on the way into Mirkwood, home of the less-than-hospitable Wood elves. Desolation may inevitably be remembered as a decent, albeit forgettable entry, or it may be the film that proved the series never should have been a trilogy to begin with. It does not stand on its own – it exists solely to set up the conclusion, which we’ll have to wait until next year for. With The Desolation of Smaug though, how this second act is viewed will inevitably be down to what happens in the third film. You expect it to leave things open ended, and yet there are several examples of the second acts being among the best entrants in the respective series – Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers spring to mind. It’s difficult to judge the second part of what was always intended to be a trilogy.
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