“Oh misty eye of the mountain below.”  Those are the first words you hear when the screen cuts to black on Peter Jackson’s second installment. The Desolation of Smaug is by far the best of the trilogy so far. For the naysayers that didn’t like An Unexpected Journey and are planning on seeing this, prepared to be blown away (and not just by Smaug neither)

The movie continues right where An Unexpected Journey left off with Gandalf, Bilbo and the Company of Dwarves trying to make their way to the Lonely Mountain. The overall movie did move at a brisk pace but that was a good sign.

For as new characters come, Tauriel (played by Evangeline Lilly) was a major standout performance for me. Even though she never existed in the Tolkien lore, Evangeline makes her fit in perfectly. There are scenes in which she shares with a certain dwarf which I found sweet and warm moment in the film, which was needed.  

It was great seeing Orlando Bloom don the ears and wig again, his character (next to Tauriel) had some of the best action sequences in the film. Lee Pace as Thandruil was an added bonus, even though he was only in a little portion of the film.

                              

Action sequences like the Barrels scene was fun and shot wonderfully. It’s amazing how far our CGI technology has come in the past ten years. Sets like LakeTown and Mirkwood looked wonderful in 3D and are so immerse it actually feels like a real place.

Richard Armitage was even better in this installment. While Gandalf is away, the head dwarf is in charge which shows a different side of Thorin. Peter Jackson and company make Thorin even more an emotional character with a huge burden on his shoulders. Bard (Luke Evans) was a solid character but didn’t add much in my opinion, it is teased in the second act of the film that he will play a major part in Film 3.
 

Now onto the big bad himself, SMAUG! That had to be the best dragon in history to be rendered so beautifully. Benedict Cumberbatch needs to be rewarded for such an amazing performance. Smaug is definitely going in history as the best dragon of all time.  Martin Freeman really shined in the fiery third act but also the entire film. Bilbo has turned from a whiney Hobbit who misses home to a sword wielding badass (see the Spiders scene to find out).

                               

The HFR 3D this time around was amazing, anyone that wants to go see it should see it. I was impressed with how it turned out. The first film had my head hurting throughout the film which made for an uncomfortable experience. I’m happy Peter listened to the voice of the fans. HFR is the next generation of filmmaking when used correctly.

I will not reveal the cliffhanger ending but I must say that I am upset and excited that we have to wait another year to see the epic finale to this wonderful trilogy.