To make up for the crime of being guilty for a sever lack of dragon action in the first Hobbit, Peter Jackson more than makes up for that mistake in this beautifully rendered follow up. In fact the last third of the film is dominated by the Benedict Cumberbatch voiced Smaug the dragon, and its interaction and conversations with Bilbo, played again by Martin Freeman is spectacular. The same cast and characters are back for this go round but along for the ride is Legolas played again by Orlando Bloom (who actually wasn't in The Hobbit book) and is even more lethal than he was from Peter Jackson's original LOTR trilogy.
The dwarves are still trying to reach the lonely mountain, outrunning the group of Orcs dedicated to not just stopping them but drinking their blood. The Orc in charge of capturing them this time is Bolg because the Orc from the first Hobbit has been summoned back by the king, by Suaron. He has returned and is building an army. His strength has returned and his mini battle with Gandalf was riviting. And for the first time ever, be it in the LOTR movies or the two Hobbit movies do we actually see ordinary men (and some color). They aren't soldiers or warriors, just fishermen and traders, it was almost a shock to me. This time the action is fast and furious and the movie has moments that will literally make you laugh out loud. The action sequences drew you in and took you by the neck and didn't let you go until they came to an end. The barrel riding sequence should be an amusement park ride somewhere on this planet.
Bilbo is sent into Erebore to find the arkenstone, a glittering jewel the dwarves treasure most above all else that glitters. He's asked to try an find it without awakening Smaug, which he fails to do much to the delight of the audience. Smaug is rendered brilliantly and the action is seamless. If you didn't know any better you would think they captured a dragon and made him act. Shot by cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, Desolation couldn't have been an easy shoot. Having actors act while talking to nothing, only to have that something added in post production had to have been frustrating at times, but it was a job well done. Scored once again by the magnificent Howard Shore, the same man that's done all the scores for the LOTR films and the first Hobbit, the music is familiar, but not boring. It wraps around you like an old warm coat that you are intimately familiar with. This time around there is a song that plays when the end credits roll entitles "I See Fire" and it's perfect for this movie. See The Desolation of Smaug, you will truly not be sorry, I swear.
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