Reviews for this film from our members:
- Marco Albanese @ Stanze di Cinema [Italian]
- Excerpt: La serializzazione del blockbuster è ormai compiuta, con forme talmente spudorate da risultare insultanti per qualsiasi spettatore non addomesticato.
- Mario Alegre @ Primera Hora [Spanish]
- Excerpt: The second installment in the new trilogy by director Peter Jackson files the rough edges of its predecessor while continuing to marginalize the protagonist.
- Dragan Antulov @ Croatian [Croatian]
- [New – 5/22/14] | Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Cafe Texan
- Excerpt: …again, there is simply so much thrown at it one might just as well cut the rather unimportant Bilbo character and focus on more important things (like an elf/dwarf love triangle).
- José Arce @ LaButaca.net [Spanish]
- Excerpt: En esta segunda entrega de la saga de “El hobbit”, Peter Jackson nos lanza un sucedáneo aún peor que el primero. Son casi tres eternas horas de duración sin acción, ni emoción, ni carisma.
- Edwin Arnaudin @ Ashvegas
- Excerpt: The Desolation of Smaug feels so well-worn that, for the first time in Jackson’s custody of these revered texts, the final product barely seems new. More troubling is that, also a first, the story feels a little thin, suggesting what many Jackson naysayers have said: The Hobbit could have been wrapped up in two films or (*gulp*) perhaps one.
- Chris Barsanti @ Film Journal International
- Excerpt: Peter Jackson’s vibrant and spry epic returns a sense of adventure, along with more resonant characters, to what had been turning into a dutiful slog.
- Kevin Carr @ 7M Pictures
- Excerpt: In essence, “The Desolation of Smaug” is nothing more than connective tissue – a bridge between “An Unexpected Journey” and “There and Back Again,” due out next Christmas. But I’m okay with that.
- Bob Cashill @ Popdose.com
- Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: With Jackson, it’s all lather, rinse, repeat.
- Carlos del Río @ El rincón de Carlos del Río [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Es la peor película sobre la Tierra Media de todas las que ha realizado Peter Jackson.
- Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
- Excerpt: [W]hat Jackson does with the central storyline … is quite effective here.
- Candice Frederick @ Reel Talk
- Dustin Freeley @ MoviesAboutGladiators.com
- Excerpt: Hobbits, dwarves, and one giant scaly carrot makes this 161 minute film a slightly briefer slog than its predecessor.
- Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
- Excerpt: There’s little emotional involvement in this adventure, compared with “Lord of the Rings,” but it’s intense and action-packed, predictably concluding with an exciting cliffhanger.
- Steven Greydanus @ National Catholic Register
- Excerpt: The transformation of Jackson’s Middle Earth into alt-Tolkien fan fiction is complete.
- Vadym Grygoriev @ kinoblog.com [Ukrainian]
- John Hanlon @ JohnHanlonReviews.com
- Excerpt: More exciting than its predecessor, Peter Jackson’s visual expertise helps guide this fun sequel.
- Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: The short tale of The Hobbit has become bloated with filler. Now if we were talking about a mattress or a bra, then padding would be a selling point perhaps, but in a movie it leads to diminishing returns.
- MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: Smaug is a magnificent cinematic creation… but there’s no good reason it takes so damn long to get to him.
- Daniel Kelly @ Danland Movies
- Excerpt: “The Desolation of Smaug” is a true spectacle and an absolute pleasure to gaze upon.
- Ben Kendrick @ Screen Rant
- Excerpt: Another humorous and enthralling adventure in Middle-earth with rich characters, sharp visuals, and an epic storyline.
- Jeremy Kibler @ The Artful Critic
- Excerpt: Often perks up with a show-stopping set-piece or two, and an imposing CG dragon is no mean feat, but The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug spins its wheels, as if our heroes are trudging through quicksand and their destination just keeps getting farther and farther.
- Benjamin Kramer @ The Voracious Filmgoer
- Mathieu Li-Goyette @ Panorama-cinéma [French]
- Wesley Lovell @ Cinema Sight
- Excerpt: “The Desolation of Smaug” is a fun, exciting follow-up that promises grand exposition in the final chapter next year.
- Marty Mapes @ Movie Habit
- Excerpt: Cinema as spectacle, fantastic and fun
- Piers Marchant @ Sweet Smell of Success
- Jason McKiernan @ Film Racket
- Excerpt: …this journey back to Middle Earth, like last year’s, is a mixed bag of pleasures and plodding, of late-game excitement finally overcoming early-stage boredom.
- Brent McKnight @ Beyond Hollywood
- Excerpt: Overlong, bloated, and tedious, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” even makes giant dragons boring.
- Ross Miller @ Thoughts On Film
- Excerpt: While still not perfect, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a far richer, more playfully adventurous and altogether more exciting film than its predecessor.
- Jana Monji @ Examiner.com
- Frank Ochieng @ Focus of New York Magazine
- Excerpt: As a signature blockbuster that boasts Jackson’s signature flourishes in excess and wonderment, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has its compelling moments as a cinematic Tolkien adventure-land entertainment tapping into the sensationalistic senses of its menacing Make Believe World of miscreants and magic.
- R. Kurt Osenlund @ Slant Magazine
- Jason Pirodsky @ Expats.cz
- Excerpt: Desolation of Smaug provides something of a response to critics of the first film: opening and closing with two enormous – and lengthy – action setpieces, and containing a good deal of running, chasing, and fighting in-between, this is an exciting, action-packed middle installment in the trilogy that never feels as long as its 161-minute running time.
- Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
- Excerpt: A wobbly second-leg of a three chapter trilogy with a cool looking dragon at its center.
- Diego Salgado @ Cine para Leer [Spanish]
- Tom Santilli @ Examiner.com
- Excerpt: Quibbles aside, this second chapter is a much improved, more complete film than the first installment.
- Amir Siregar @ Flick Magazine [Indonesian]
- Josh Spiegel @ Sound on Sight
- Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
- Excerpt: Big and visually opulent but oddly lumbering and dull.
- Mel Valentin @ VeryAware.com
- Excerpt: Peter Jackson’s descent into irrelevancy continues.
- Andrew Wyatt @ Look/Listen (St. Louis Magazine)
- Excerpt: The Desolation of Smaug boasts far more fresh settings, creatures, and sorcery than its predecessor.
