Peter Jackson's 2013 film opens mid-chase, Thorin and company already running, the quest already in motion. It is a deliberate correction of the first entry's pacing, and it works. The Desolation of Smaug is the Hobbit trilogy's most focused and propulsive entry, a film that addresses the structural diffuseness of An Unexpected Journey with a greater narrative drive and a willingness to commit to the darker register the material demands.
At a Glance
Director: Peter Jackson
Runtime: 161 minutes
Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace
Release: 2013
Critics Rating: ★★★½ (3.5/5 stars, the trilogy's most entertaining entry)
Audience Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 stars, enjoyable)
Review Breakdown
Plot
The company continues their journey to the Lonely Mountain, passing through Mirkwood, the halls of Thranduil, and Lake-town before confronting Smaug. The plot is the trilogy's most narratively driven, generating tension in its more serious passages and a physical energy in its action sequences the more episodic first entry did not consistently achieve. The barrel sequence is the film's most purely enjoyable action passage, a demonstration of practical and digital filmmaking working in considerable harmony. The Bilbo-Smaug confrontation is the film's most significant passage, a meeting of such psychological intensity and tension that it stands as the Hobbit trilogy's finest individual sequence, surpassing even the Riddles in the Dark in its dramatic stakes and visual scale.
Characters
Smaug is the film's greatest creative achievement and the most formidable dragon in the history of fantasy cinema. Benedict Cumberbatch's voice performance gives Smaug a wit and contempt that makes the character feel entirely intelligent and entirely dangerous simultaneously, and the Bilbo-Smaug confrontation is the film's most gripping passage, a demonstration of character-driven tension that elevates the film considerably above its structural problems. Martin Freeman's Bilbo is given his most demanding material in this entry, a character whose growing use of the Ring gives the film a psychological dimension and whose performance is the finest of his Hobbit trilogy appearances. Richard Armitage's Thorin is given the trilogy's most complex secondary arc, a character whose growing obsession with the Arkenstone gives the franchise's secondary thread its most interesting and consequential development. The Tauriel subplot, by contrast, is the trilogy's most dramatically unnecessary addition, a romantic thread that neither the pacing nor the character work can sustain.
Tone
Jackson pitches the film at a darker and more purposeful register than An Unexpected Journey, and the approach is largely successful. The Desolation of Smaug has a momentum and drive the more episodic first entry lacked, and the film's willingness to commit to darkness in its more serious passages gives it a tonal confidence the more hesitant first entry did not always achieve. The barrel sequence is the film's most enjoyable tonal achievement, a demonstration of action filmmaking that balances physical danger with comic energy without letting either undermine the other.
Meaning / Themes
At its core, the film is about greed and corruption, about the dwarves' legitimate desire to reclaim their home and the dragon sickness the Arkenstone's proximity begins to awaken in Thorin. The film's treatment of Bilbo's growing use of the Ring as a parallel form of corruption gives the franchise's central concern with the corrupting power of desire its most dramatically interesting Hobbit trilogy expression. The Bilbo-Smaug confrontation gives that theme its most visually and psychologically striking individual passage: two characters defined by acquisition, facing each other across a mountain of gold.
Direction
Jackson's direction is the Hobbit trilogy's most assured, with a command of the film's action sequences and a sensitivity to the weight of the Smaug confrontation that makes the tonal shift between the two feel entirely earned. The Bilbo-Smaug confrontation is the film's directorial centrepiece, a sustained exercise in character-driven tension that achieves its effects through performance and spatial staging rather than scale alone. The barrel sequence is the film's most energetic directorial achievement, and the Mirkwood sequences are the film's most atmospherically accomplished. Howard Shore's score builds on the established Middle-earth themes with a richness and dramatic intelligence that suits the film's darker register.
Cultural Reception
The Desolation of Smaug received a warmer critical reception than An Unexpected Journey, with most reviewers praising Cumberbatch's Smaug, the barrel sequence, and the film's greater narrative drive. Its commercial performance was strong, and it is now consistently regarded as the Hobbit trilogy's most entertaining entry and the one that most successfully justifies the decision to return to Middle-earth. Cumberbatch's Smaug is widely considered the most fully realised dragon in the history of fantasy cinema, and the Bilbo-Smaug confrontation is frequently cited as the trilogy's finest individual sequence.
Final Verdict: The Hobbit trilogy's most entertaining entry and its most narratively assured. Benedict Cumberbatch's Smaug is a creation of such wit, menace, and psychological presence that he elevates every scene he inhabits, and the Bilbo-Smaug confrontation is the trilogy's finest individual sequence. Jackson's direction gives the material a momentum and drive the more episodic first entry lacked, and the result is the closest the Hobbit trilogy comes to recapturing the dramatic focus of its predecessor series.