Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug spoiler thread

[Ramsay B.]

Saw it today and thought it was great, I think it was much better than the first one. It had good pacing and I was never bored despite it being long as hell. Lots of action and Smaug delivered. I never read the book so I have nothing to compare it to so Tauriel was cool with me. Legolas actually got a bloody nose and had some competition at the end, shocking.

Also, seeing Luke Evans(Bard) on a boat just strengthens my opinion that he should be Euron in GOT.

[JBB5093]

I wanted to love this movie but I hated it. The last hour really dragged on and was not entertaining to me. I don't want to ever see Orlando bloom jumping on the dwarves heads again.

[Martini Sigil]

I thought it was better than the first, but still not great. There was a lot of special effect/cinematography that was unnessasary... they seem to want to make every time they tied their shoes a greatmoment in film history... and it took away from the story.... also the action sequences were wrought (much like the forst movie) with Jar Jar Binks style good fortunethat only seems to benefit Oakenshield & company... and again, that takes away from the story..

[Corvinus85]

I liked it, but there are so many changes from the source material, that there is barely any point comparing them.

There is one thing that Jackson has continued to do well, starting all the way back with the Fellowship: create that sense of wonder and magic that is the world of Middle-earth. And for that I will continue to applaud him.

Regarding the Kili-Tauriel relationship, I thought that it was done well in terms of how it was developed: Tauriel saving Kili, Kili thinking it was a dream. But, I don't see a point in doing it at all since Kili will be marching to his doom in the next movie. Maybe Tauriel will join him (after all, the elven army will have to suffer some casualties in the upcoming battle)

Smaug was awesome. All the time I was comparing him with Aegon's dragons from his size, to how fire build up in him and burst all over. And loved it when he said "I am fire, I am death"

[Summerfell]

I just got back from seeing this, and overall I think it pretty much followed the first movie. The main strength and what I tend to focus on while watching is how freakin' gorgeous everything is. I mean, that first moment when Smaug lifts his head from the gold. Woah. I tend to forgive the absence of physics in action sequences more than most because I view it as more of an artistic digression (though I do agree Legolas hopping dwarf heads is a bit much). The river barrel scene felt a lot like the goblin lair chase scene in the first movie, that is, it felt like watching a pinball machine. I understand how that can annoy some people but personally I kinda like it, as "unrealistic" as it is. The score is pretty awesome, too.

However, my friend and I were in hysterics over the Tauriel/Kili romance stuff. I think we disturbed some of the people in the theater, actually. :lol: So astonishingly overdone. I am moderately disappointed Tauriel did not end up being an awesome character, but honestly I moved right past being upset over it and right to thinking it's utterly hilarious.

I also really like Bard's expanded role and the actor portraying him did a quality job.

[The Marquis de Leech]

I went in with low expectations, but ended up thoroughly enjoying it. It's godawful as an adaption, taking far more liberties with the source material than any other Jackson movie, but I felt the end result works in a way that AUJ emphatically does not. There is much less overt padding, and even if Jackson can't help himself with Ninja!Legolas, there is nothing on the scale of Rock Giant silliness. Unlike AUJ there is also much less dwelling for thirty minutes on a couple of lines - Beorn isn't overblown, and if anything Mirkwood goes by too quickly (I'm surprised the Enchanted River is completely cut, but the spiders are suitably icky, and the forest's mindscrew nature is well-covered).

I also loved Lake Town; there's a dark Dickensian vibe to it, and I like the idea of splitting the dwarves up, so we have a foot (or at least eyes) in both camps. It puts the surplus dwarves to good use. Unlike others, I've got no real problem with Tauriel/Kili.

If I was finding fault, it'd be that Bilbo feels neglected: he's transformed into a competent hero at the end of AUJ, and now he's just a competent hero with Ring issues. The Hobbit is supposed to be his story, but for much of DOS his character arc plays second fiddle to dwarves and Dol Guldur. Trimming the dwarves v. Smaug struggle (I'm tempted to call it Home Alone: the Erebor Edition) would also have freed up more time to include Smaug's death, which would have made a far better ending.

[Werthead]

I am amused by how many people seem to be grossed out by a dwarf/elf pairing, but a human/elf pairing is absolutely fine to them. Fictional racism, much? :P

[The Marquis de Leech]

I am amused by how many people seem to be grossed out by a dwarf/elf pairing, but a human/elf pairing is absolutely fine to them. Fictional racism, much? :P

I think it's more "unnecessary romance" that's the key here - I think reactions would be similar to a Tauriel/Bard relationship. Mind you, we're talking source material where the only named female is Bilbo's long-dead mother, and the only on-screen females are (the presumably female) Mirkwood spiders.

[C0bR]

I am amused by how many people seem to be grossed out by a dwarf/elf pairing, but a human/elf pairing is absolutely fine to them. Fictional racism, much? :P

Technically no, as the different races are infact different species, so there is no race thing going on :closedeyes:

Also it is more about the relationship not making any sense at all.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Also, Legolas seems to lose a bit of weight in the following sixty years ;)

Bloom certainly looks older in The Hobbit, but I didn't notice him any fatter. I'll have to watch out for it next time.

[Corvinus85]

Bloom certainly looks older in The Hobbit, but I didn't notice him any fatter. I'll have to watch out for it next time.

Well he certainly displays surprising strength fighting a 7 ft orc.

[Nictarion]

Well he certainly displays surprising strength fighting a 7 ft orc.

He did kind of get his ass kicked in that fight though.

[C0bR]

He did kind of get his ass kicked in that fight though.

Even Legolas gets tired after his killcount reaches 50 in about five minutes :bowdown:

[Jace, Extat]

I am shocked at how many people liked this movie. Both in this thread, and at the theater. As it ended with the cringeworthy line 'I am DEATH!' people in the showing actually started... clapping...

I walked out with the BF and, after a 3hr delayed bathroom break, asked him if he thought it sucked as much as I did. His answer was an unequivocal 'yes'.

Some things I liked:

1) The scene in Mirkwood with Bilbo destroying the termite-thing to get the ring back was awesome and had me feeling good about the movie. Then everything started getting really bad. I loved how desperate he is to get back his 'precious' and then he actually realizes how he's acting.

2) Peter Jackson's cameo as the carrot-eating guy in Bree was funny and subtle... ish

3) The axe-wielding Barrel of Death was pretty cool. It was stupid, but if it were an isolate scene of stupid, it would have been ok. I laughed, that's enough.

4) Smaug was awesome for the scene with Bilbo. We all know about Sherlock and Watson, and it was well done. Smaug's voice was brilliant, and it reminded me of Bane's unique voice in a way that I liked (I enjoy Bane's entrancing timbre).

5) The Elf-King, whatshisface. This guy hit all of the cliché evil villain roles (effeminate, sadistic, greedy, scarred, pale, liar, effeminate, wavering voice, sweeping gestures made subtle by the impressive backdrop of his kingdom, madness, and effeminate) but it actually kinda worked.

And that's pretty much it. In a 3-hour movie, I should be able to pick more than five things that I liked.

Things that I didn't like:

1) The constant references to the previous trilogy. It's ok in spots, but I really expect more out of Peter Jackson. He should respect his audience enough to not have to shout 'look, we're saying stuff that will be said later in the timeline!'. A good example of that is my favorite filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who generally lets his audience either form their own independent impressions, or figure out what was meant on their own. To give you an example of when Nolan failed to do that, the scene in 'The Dark Knight Rises' comes to mind when Catwoman disappears from a rooftop while Batman is talking to her. Batman notices she's gone and mutters 'so that's what that feels like'. I understand that the lowest common denominator in the theater actually needs to hear Batman say that to understand what just happened, but it's a disservice to your more evolved members of the audience and it stands out. Especially in a bad film. 'The Desolation of Smaug' is littered with these blatant callbacks, and it really took me out of an already disengaging movie, hell, even the 'Star Wars: Prequels' were better in this regard.

2) The Elf-chick. What a clichéd asshat. I really did not like her love triangle and I found her mostly useless. The scene where she heals Killi is particularly grating, as it takes me out of the marginally interesting Bilbo-Smaug exchange.

3) The CGI. Oh my god, how did this happen? The original 'Lord of the Rings' Trilogy makes minimal use of CGI in its effects, and spawned the best effects studio in film 'Wetta Workshop'. 'Desolation of Smaug' took a giant dump all over any immersion in the film. This starts with the less-than-serviceable rendering of everything as larger and more cartoonish (as seen in Mirkwood). I understand why the movie had that initial aesthetic impression, because everything looks bigger to dwarves and it highlights how out-of-place they are. But it really is horrible in Erebor. Seriously, how was the gold allowed to happen? From the first moment Bilbo looks at the horde, I knew something was wrong. Gold does not look like that, and the technology is available to either render it properly, or you can just dump a bunch of those chocolate gold-coins on the ground and that would have been better. I was prepared to forgive that because Smaug was so cool early in his reveal, but the liquid gold is insulting. I didn't realize that it was supposed to be gold in the vats when they began to fire up the furnaces. I honestly just didn't know what I was being shown, and the CGI at work is a disgrace. 'Sharknado' looked better. This is made worse by Smaug's torrent through the mountain, as the liquid gold really never looks... real. The touch with Smaug and the giant dwarf king was cool, but it was again ruined by the awful effect. The only thing I can say really worked was when Smaug finally left the mountain and his horde is literally falling from him, that was cool.

4) Bard. What a bland, uninteresting character. Was that Orlando Bloom playing him? Oh, wait, I don't care.

5) TOO MUCH ACTION! I, as a rule, do not beat my thumb against my chest while making intelligible sounds (retard joke). I prefer seeing (and hearing!) films that carry a bit of depth. That's why my favorite moment in the film is when Bilbo is trying to look casual while Smaug wakes up behind him. This is a brilliant scene, and I'm almost entirely sure that Jackson had nothing to do with it. Bilbo is out of place, against a monstrous background that threatens to devour him (Smaug=world outside the Shire) and all he wants to do is go unnoticed so that he can survive it (Bilbo's discomfort in large settings=being invisible with the ring as compensation). There's a lot going on in that scene, and all that's happening is a guy standing 'casually' and something moving behind him. The 'Lord of the Rings' is filled with simple, meaningful shots like this, 'Desolation of Smaug' only has one that I can think of.

I can go deeper. I stop there because I am ranting on the internet, and I'm now going to go rant at my boyfriend.

Horrible, horrible movie. Martin Freeman is awesome, Ser Ian is awesome. This actually reminds me of 'Star Trek: Into Darkness' with Karl Urban and Benedict Cumberbatch turning in quality performances with 'eh, let's get paid' attitudes going on around them.

[Lord Toblerone]

Hmmm.

A lot of good contributions to this discussion.

I liked it fine. Smaug was excellent, fantastically executed in every way.

The padding was less obtrusive this time, and I noticed the quick movement effect from the 48 fps less this time out.

It did look video-game-like at times.

What the flip was with the giant bees?

Yeah, the Erebor furnaces "WTH are they doing, would the furnaces still have fuel in them after all this time (I guess maybe, if it's coal?), bodysurfing molten metal, oh I guess that was molten gold pouring into this big mould for a colossal golden statue" sequence went on too long and the molten gold looked shit.

Coming out of the cinema I was quite satisfied with the ending, but now I'm kinda seeing what wert is saying about the cliffhangers. A girl walking behind me did say "they ended it there ... ?"

[Knight of Ashes]

I am amused by how many people seem to be grossed out by a dwarf/elf pairing, but a human/elf pairing is absolutely fine to them. Fictional racism, much? :P

Yes, in my case, there is an element of that.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Yes, in my case, there is an element of that.

Apparently Fili/Kili slash exists. Rule 34 of the internet and all.

[Ramsay B.]

I am shocked at how many people liked this movie. Both in this thread, and at the theater. As it ended with the cringeworthy line 'I am DEATH!' people in the showing actually started... clapping...

I thought the, "I am death" line was great. Also, I didn't notice anything wrong with the CGI besides when they were doing the weird shots from inside the barrels when they were in the river.

[Jace, Extat]

When I say CGI, I'm mostly talking about the molten gold, and the elvish battle animations. I did not like the river scene, though, because it's disgusting how poorly they cut the shots from 'raging rapids' to 'in the barrel'. Seriously, they didn't even use the same filter. The rapids shots look like something from a documentary, or a reality show. It's clean, unfiltered, and it looks bad in editing.

You really liked that line, though? I found the predictability of the movie to be crippling (I didn't mention this in my rant), and as 2nd-to-last line that stuck out to me. I knew he was going to say that as soon as he was flying. I might have found it better if he weren't just talking to himself.

The 'I AM King Under the Mountain' line was brilliant. It reminded me of the Bane line 'I AM the League of Shadows, and I am here to fulfill Ra's Al Ghul's destiny!'

I liked Smaug, and I loved hearing him talk, but he was made impotent with the 30 minutes of being unable to kill a single dwarf.

[Theda Baratheon]

I really feel like i am seriously missing something here...i thought the first film was miles better than this one, i just got back from the cinema and it was fun, but it was sheer fluff, there was no depth, no heart, just action.

The only things i really thought were great was lee pace partly because he was hilarious, Luke Evans as bard with his wonderful theatre Welsh accent and gorgeous face and smaug's voice and design.

I am actually upset so many people are saying this was far superior to the first film, which wasn't perfect by any means but was so much more fun to me anyway, like what am i actually missing.