Review Roundup: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG

The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.(c) WB

Let's see what the critics have to say...

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: "...all that really happens in the film is that the company manages to eventually reach the mountain. Sure, they're waylaid in the elven realm of Mirkwood - and the human Lake Town - for a little while on the way. But there's no particular arc here, just nearly three hours of bludgeoning rising action, culminating in a battle sequence invented by the filmmakers to provide an artificial climax."

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "Benedict Cumberbatch, who now rules the world, provides the voice of Smaug. Whatever one's personal investment in the Tolkien mythology, the dragon on screen is one hell of a dragon. Smaug's first close-up finds the beast asleep beneath mountains of gold coins, and when we see one eye open, it's a wonderful, awful sight. Elsewhere there's a truly scary giant-spider sequence, a little long - everything's a little long in Smaug - but more than enough to give younger viewers some fairly bad dreams."

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: "After exhibiting an almost craven fidelity to his source material the first time out, Jackson gets the drama in gear here from the outset with a sense of storytelling that possesses palpable energy and purpose. Toward the end, his perennial tendency to let bloat creep in reasserts itself to an extent; as in the Lord of the Rings films, not to mention King Kong, he has a hard time knowing when enough is enough even as the three-hour goalpost looms dead ahead. But for the most part he moves the episodic tale along with reasonable speed for a leviathan while serving up enough fights, close shaves and action-filled melodrama for an old-fashioned movie serial or a modern video game."

Justin Chang, Variety: "But the strongest point of connection between this adventure and those yet to come is the Hobbit himself, specifically his growing fascination with the mysterious artifact he acquired in An Unexpected Journey. Even at this early stage, the ring's insidious pull is unmistakable, and Freeman allows a few dark shadings to creep into his otherwise charming embodiment of Bilbo Baggins, whose gradual transformation from reluctant tag-along into stealthy and reliable asset helps sustain viewer engagement through the picture's occasional laborious stretches."

Peter Travers, Rollingstone: "The scenes between Smaug and Bilbo imbue this bloated 3D movie with a sense of character and purpose. As before, there's a ton of padding. Orlando Bloom's Legolas shows up out of nowhere, surely not out of J.R.R. Tolkien's slender novel. And the elf warrior Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) is pure invention. But, oh, that dragon. I'd endure another slog through Middle-Earth just to spend more time with Smaug."

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: "J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit in 1937, on the eve of World War II, and his book is suffused with a sense of evil looming up in the world. This time Jackson nails that tone: the feeling that Bilbo, who's been recruited to steal back a wondrous gem called the Arkenstone from the dragon Smaug, is up against a cosmic storm of black forces. The dragon has ravaged the land, the angry, hulking orcs are on a power trip, and the elves - led by the imperious Thranduil (Lee Pace) - are isolationists who trap the dwarves in a dungeon, setting up a great escape via wine barrels on white rapids."

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: "...this second installment opens with an hour of perfunctory exposition and continues with nearly another two of nonstop sensory stimulation. The chaotic action, amped-up sound effects, and needlessly intricate CGI landscapes (which are less convincing than traditional sets or even the hand-drawn backdrops of Disney classics) wore me out well before the movie was over."

Richard Corliss, TIME: "The first film in the trifecta, An Unexpected Journey, was often content to duplicate the book's characters and situations, like the Xerox of an illuminated medieval manuscript. In Smaug, the characters step from the book's pages and leap vividly out of the 3-D screen - at 48 frames per second, in some theaters, a technique less distracting than it was the first time"

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