So, the second hairy-footed, axe-wielding, wizard-filled instalment is upon us after a year in the waiting. And 12 months is a particularly long time to wait in the world of Middle Earth, with such an enormous amount of active plot lines to have to remember from 2012's 'The Unexpected Journey'. Left partway through their quest, (and with Bilbo having just pocketed Gollum's precious), Desolation picks up the party (after a minor sojourn to recap on unseen events from before the first film) still being pursued by the Orc gang as they travel closer to the Lonely Mountain. Despite the somewhat aborted attempt to refresh the audience's memories though, Peter Jackson does assume a fair amount of revision on the part of the viewer, with a little too much of the mythology swept over too quickly to truly get back up to speed before a new avalanche of story to stay on top of.
Sadly, on top of the issues over memory and story continuity, the second film also falls foul of one of the more annoying afflictions of the first film, namely a distinct lack of memorable scenes, despite the mammoth 2 hour 41 minute run time. In fact, even the scenes with Smaug himself, which arguably should have been this film's most iconic offerings to the franchise, seemed rather to be going through the motions (and as an aside, riddled with continuity discrepancies - how can Smaug smell Bilbo even when shrouded by the One Ring, and yet can't detect an entire party of dwarves on a bridge a few feet above his head just a couple of scenes later?).
 |
| Martin Freeman looking a little overcome at the sight of some simple jewellery |
All that said, this is still a Peter Jackson number, so it needn't be surprising that The Desolation of Smaug carries visuals no less sumptuous than those to which we've become accustomed. Indeed, the traditional bounty of panning vistas and sweeping camera shots are certainly in ample supply, and done just as effortlessly and to just as much effect as we have been trained to expect. Where the cinematography does fall down a little is with a slight over-reliance on POV shots which does seem slightly lazy, but once again the action sequences and Peter Jackson's 3D do blend better than we've seen in cinema offerings elsewhere. What's more, Desolation also gives us the opportunity to see the welcome return of some old faces (including Orlando Bloom as Legolas) and indeed the addition of some highly recognisable faces making an appearance, with Stephen Fry arguably the most conspicuous on that list.
All being said and done though, there is a slightly damp feeling with this instalment that this was the film that should never have been made; the one that was made more for profit than with any kind of storytelling justification. The one that was always going to need the largest amount of padding out. And even if that may be a particularly extreme and harsh way of viewing it, I did find myself watching this film with a rather painful sense that I may have been watching because I had to, rather than because I actually wanted to. Perhaps what we're left with then is in fact nothing more than the unfortunate middle child - the film tasked with keeping all the story plates spinning, but not allowed to wrap up any loose ends lest they be important in the final concluding chapter.
 |
| Evangeline Lilly's on-screen look presumably inspired by the question; "what would Robin Hood look like if he were a girl?" |
| Vital Statistics |
|---|
| Director | Peter Jackson |
| Cast | Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, James Nesbitt, Orlando Bloom |
| Length | 161 mins |
| Post Credits Scene | No |
| TFC Mash-Up | Erm... very much like The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with a few bits from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Basically, very Middle Earth... |
| Star Rating |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment