The Hobbit: 8 Blunders That Ruined The Desolation Of Smaug
In a way you can’t blame Peter Jackson for wanting to dip his toes back into the lucrative golden lakes of Middle-Earth for the sake of more films. However in taking a book that is around a quarter of the length of his original inspiration he’s all but ruined the transition.
Man, I love The Lord Of The Rings. I love when a production team can take something as whimsical and fantastical as the likes of Tolkiens world, and actually make it work on the big screen. The original trilogy is a triumph of modern cinema that I dont think anyone saw coming, let alone actually deliver on three consecutive films in a way that Star Wars and The Matrix would be jealous of. In a way you cant blame Peter Jackson for wanting to dip his toes back into the lucrative golden lakes of Middle-Earth for the sake of more films. However in taking a book that is around a quarter of the length of his original inspiration and updating it for a modern 3D-suckering audience across three films, for me anyway hes all but ruined the transition. Whilst I wouldnt go as far to say I hated Desolation of Smaug, and I do think a fair whack of the dislike I have for the film does stem from a love of the source material, there are other problems that I feel are worthy of dissection, especially in relation to how much the entire project feels like one giant cash-grab, replete with a new screen resolution-type tacked on to ensure you only get the real experience if you pay three times as much. Spoilers for the film, upcoming third movie and The Hobbit book will follow, as will copious amounts of opinionated ranting...