Every Peter Jackson Film Ranked Worst To Best

It's hard to pinpoint what exactly makes The Desolation of Smaug so weak, but that's probably down to how much there is wrong with it. Though often cited as the best of the Hobbit trilogy, the film is a tonal misfire, shifting between battles, quests and character interactions with much less care than Jackson is known for.

Of course, there's the special effects issue that plagues its sequel (and its predecessor), a production decision which leaves the whole film feeling rather synthetic, cartoonish, and difficult to immerse yourself in. But it's more than that - it's exciting when it wants to be, sure, and the action is solid, but it's so bumpy and inconsistent that it's hard to remember you're watching a Lord of the Rings film.

The main issue with the Hobbit trilogy is clearly Jackson's choice to make the 300-page novel into three films (applying the same logic to Tolkien's LOTR trilogy would surely have amounted to around twelves movies), and The Desolation of Smaug suffers massively for this decision. It's so-so good fun, and the acting is decent, but that's not enough to save the film from its biggest faults.