The Eye is Watching You, Thief
If you are like me, you grew up with The Hobbit being one of the first books you can remember reading. J.R.R. Tolkien's "young adult" fantasy (before there was a thing like a young adult fantasy genre) takes us on a journey with a bunch of Dwarves hoping to restore their mountain home (or possibly just to take back some of their wealth from the dragon there). Going along with them is Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit of the title. The story also exposes the reader to the world of Middle Earth, the setting for one of the most-famous fantasy stories of all time, The Lord of the Rings (mostly known in movie form these days). Due to the success of The Lord of the Rings movies, it was no surprise that the studio and all involved in translating The Hobbit to film would try to do the source material "justice" by adapting the novel to multiple films.
In Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, we see the meeting of Bilbo and Gandalf the Wizard and the Dwarves who follow Thorin Oakenshield (head dwarf) on his quest. That film takes us through the early part of the journey over the Misty Mountains and leaves our companions just rescued from their pursuers. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was a disappointment for many who watched it as it remained, possibly, too close to the source material and drew out the first third of the novel too much - resulting in a slower paced and not very tension-filled story (except the parts with Gollum, of course).
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug seems to address nearly any complaints a film-goer may have had with the first movie. Tension, real danger for our heroes, character development are all there while still keeping the sweeping grandeur of Middle Earth with eye-popping visuals. Oh yeah, and we finally get to see Smaug the Magnificent (and boy is Smaug, Magnificent). It was also nice to see a little grit in Middle Earth via Lake-town cause it is hard to imagine a place more edgy to live in than a town close to a dragon's mountain. Plus there are some cool characters in Lake-town (well one cool and one you want to slap).
There are a few little issues that I had with the film. First, the film doesn't quite help those unfamiliar with the broader Middle Earth source material understand everything going on with Dol Guldur and the Necromancer. Second is the elves, yes I know they are magical creatures of grace and beauty…okay I get it. But the ninja-like skill used in dispatching enemies left me wondering if any of the "named" elves like Tauriel or Legolas can even be killed in this story. It took me out of the story a little bit.
At the end of the day, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a good fantasy film and a strong, action-packed middle movie in the trilogy. Luckily, knowing the source material, there is more epic action and awesomeness to come in the final movie. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug gets 4 Mick Happies. After seeing this, I am glad I haven't angered any dragons recently.
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