Review: “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

Mark Pokorny/Warner Bros. Pictures
MARTIN FREEMAN as Bilbo in the fantasy adventure “THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG.”

In the liveliest and arguably best scene of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” Orlando Bloom’s Legolas deftly navigates across a river, bouncing along the heads of this trilogy’s protagonists while being the arrow-slinging, goblin slayer that made him such a fan favorite in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Mark Pokorny/Warner Bros. Pictures
Orlando Bloom as Legolas.

It’s a somewhat fitting statement indicative of the series thus far. Despite Director/Co-writer Peter Jackson’s grand intentions, “The Hobbit” trilogy is but a mere stepping stone to his fantasy genre-redefining LOTR series. Two films into “The Hobbit” trilogy, the majority of the best scenes have heavily featured LOTR characters or foreshadowed events of major significance.

It’s almost as if Jackson is saying “Stay tuned! This whole Middle Earth saga is about to get a lot more interesting!”

First teaser trailer and images for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

Warner Bros. Pictures
IAN MCKELLEN as Gandalf in New Line Cinema’s and MGM’s fantasy adventure “THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

For all you Hobbit fans, here’s the first trailer for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.”

First image of Evangeline Lilly in “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

I wasn’t all that impressed with Peter Jackson’s first return to Middle Earth in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” but I’m still anticipating his second installment, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.”

Credit: EW.com
Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel

That’s largely because we’re going to see the return of some kick-tail Elven warriors, including everyone’s favorite Legolas (Orlando Bloom). He’s going to be joined this time by Evangeline Lilly’s (“Lost“) Tauriel, a new character written in to the Hobbit universe by Jackson and his co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.

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