Any of Peter Jackson's Tolkien films are always going to pack a powerful visual punch, and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is no exception. The second Hobbit film is a work of art in terms of special effects and battle sequences, but it struggles when it comes to pacing. I think that these films are still suffering from the creative decision to make The Hobbit, a book of a mere 310 pages, into three movies that clock in at nearly three hours each. As a result, the plot is stretched until it resembles Mike Teevee from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Middle films in a trilogy often suffer from inevitable sagging even at the best of times, and in this instance it's particularly egregious. To put it into perspective, The Desolation of Smaug features only five chapters from The Hobbit. Despite the natural abilities of Martin Freeman, who was born to play Bilbo, and the rest of the cast, the film's narrative padding is hard to ignore. And although Benedict Cumberbatch has been doing a full on publicity tour for this film, it's hard to get too excited considering that you can barely tell it's him.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
