The Hobbit: 5 Lessons From The Desolation Of Smaug That Will Make The Third Film Great

2. A Consistent Tone

In terms of film technique alone, Jackson maneuvers his camera with a far steadier hand. The movie feels purposeful and motivated, like it knows where it wants to go. The first Hobbit gave off a sense of sheer meandering. Simple things like character entrances seemed to drag on and on. The arrival to Rivendell, for example, was needlessly dragged out by having our heroes informed that Elrond is away, only to have him then dramatically arrive on horseback 5 seconds later. Similar entrances were given to Saruman, who magically appears in a corner, and Galadriel, who dramatically turns around as the camera slowly takes in her obtuse glory. Scenes like this caused the pacing of the film to ground to a halt. Desolation on the other hand is stuffed with relentless action, never letting up. Where the character entrances were formerly slow and indulgent, now they are swift and purposeful. Legolas arrives with a bang, leaping from a tree and firing arrows into Orc heads. Bilbo saves his friends without a second thought, tearing his way through trees and jamming Sting into spiders' bellies. It seemed often in the first Hobbit that the characters were just posing. Taking grand positions and waiting for the camera to do its work for them. Here everything is much more potent, as the characters are dizzyingly swept into their world. There's no time for lingering camera angles, the characters are too busy delving into the action of the movie. From the early chase with Beorn to the spiraling darkness of the Mirkwood spider battle, from the rollicking barrel ride into Laketown to the intricate maze of Smaug's dungeon, the action is relentless. Desolation is the first of the Middle-Earth films that can be classified an action picture. And while this classification may be considered a step down from the Rings days, it's a hell of a lot better than what we got the first time. The first film never seemed to have a good handle on what it wanted to be. Ominous exchanges between Gandalf and Radagast were abruptly broken by Radagast choking on a cricket. Uproarious Dwarves tossing cutlery around Bilbo's kitchen was paired with intensely dramatic slow motion as Gandalf handed Thorin a door key. The lighter fare from The Hobbit novel and the more dramatic material from LOTR were awkwardly thrown together. Instead of deciding on a tone, Jackson just let the ingredients sit in a blender separately, never mixing them. But for Desolation, he finally hit "blend." The result is a movie that drops the overly dramatic and the painfully unfunny, and arrives at the healthy medium of action fantasy/adventure film. Even when the film slows down, it's only for character development. The film is structured like a cat-and-mouse game: Run-stop-hide-run-stop-fight-run. Even the breaks in the action act only as a pause button, continuing to generate energy until the film hits play. The action never truly halts until the heart-stopping cliffhanger, dropping like a massive crescendo. For a third movie that will likely be primarily battle scenes, it's very important that the pacing and tone be maintained. We can't have any meandering about. The battles in the final film need to be vivid, intense, and purposeful. Jackson seems to have discovered the tone he wants the second time out, now all he needs to do is enhance it. The tragedies that will befall our beloved characters should hand over plenty of natural material for true drama. That combination of drama mixed with palpitating action (aka "The Return of the King" mixture) should be just what Jackson needs to give us an epic send-off for Middle-Earth.