The Desolation of Smaug

[DancingCrab]

LOVED LOVED LOVED IT!!!!! Better than An Unexpected Journey, which I loved too. Left on a great cliffhanger (a few groans in the theater afterward from people wanting it to continue)

I could nitpick a few things (the burden of being a fan of Tolkien's books ) but I won't. I'm still on a high from the overall experience.

[Musical Master]

I have seen it last weekend and it was a thousand times better than An Unexpected Journey. The art direction was better, the pacing was really good for an 2+ hour film, Smaug is the best Dragon in a Hollywood movie PERIOD!!!!!!!!!, and not to mention that the climax was great with an amazing cliffhanger that made me have this face: ; the scene was on par with the battle of Helm's Deep in The Two Towers.

If there is one thing that I was sort of meh on was that I wish that we have had more time with the water town, but as it is, that's what the extended cut is for.

[rexcrk]

Yes! It was so good, I saw it opening night midnight and I just saw it again with my parents. I'm hoping to go back a few more times before it's out of theaters.

I really liked An Unexpected Journey but I do admit it had some pacing issues and whatnot, I think Desolation is overall just a better movie.

Really really looking forward to its extended edition! They need to spend a lot more time in Mirkwood, IMO.

[Thoix]

I already loved The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but I really loved The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. I saw it twice within the same week and managed to enjoy it even more the second time! Even as someone who's read the book, I've learned to expect changes to Peter Jackson's version of the story, but I think everything added in was good and did not distract me from the main story. I'm glad to see Legolas given more to do as a character in this and has only helped me enjoy him even more in The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy. Despite being an original character, Tauriel was one of my favorite characters in the movie. Yeah, the romance story between her and Kili got a bit cheesy there near the end, but overall I actually liked it.

Smaug was amazing; he looked enormous and seemed utterly terrifying. I loved the portion with him and Bilbo under the mountain. "Barrel rider." Gets me every time. While the AUJ was not my favorite film of 2012, TDOS surpassed every other film released last year and is indeed my favorite film of 2013. I hope The Hobbit: There and Back Again is even better and keeps the trilogy as a worthy inclusion to Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy.

[thedisneyspirit]

I didn't like it much.

[ajmrowland]

I really enjoyed it, but it was dampened a bit by personal back pains and the high framerate was a bit jarring.

But it's on my oscar viewings list.

If I have one thing to say here, it's that Smaug was handled wonderfully! A talking dragon must be very hard to make into a credible threat the way he is.

[Disney's Divinity]

Finally saw this. I didn't care for it as much as the first film. The Dragon scenes and the Gandalf scenes were the only ones I enjoyed, although the Mirkwood section was okay and the battle down the river was entertaining. I love the Dragon's design, although the voice isn't quite perfect anyway; I guess it's hard to imagine what the perfect sound would be. I still plan seeing the third one, regardless.

I read Elrond and Saruman are in the third one (if only as cameos). Will enjoy seeing Christopher Lee again.

[ajmrowland]

After seeing this, my first thought was that you can say what you want about Jackson, but he knows how to make a centerpiece for his movies.