While I liked An
Unexpected Journey, I absolutely loved The
Desolation of Smaug! Entertainment at its finest and an emotional
rollercoaster for me, I can't help myself and will bother you with my most
humble and emotional review. (SPOILER ALERT!!!)
Just like the dragon ascended into the night sky with
gold spreading from its wings, so did my mind! I was overwhelmed and didn't get
so emotional because of a movie for a long time. The thrills, the chills, the
hysterical laughter I got them all. I was worried about the characters the
whole time. (I know it's just a movie, but I can't help it. Suspension of
belief is my favourite thing about movies. Just live in another world for a few
hours.)
Me when Gandalf fights the Necromancer: "NO! Not
Gandalf!"
When Kili is wounded: "Not Kili! Come on, Tauriel
save him!"
And the climax: Smaug the Stupendous shows himself in
his full beauty: "WOAH! OMG! OMG! OMG!"
They did a very good job in making it scary as hell!
Particularly Benedict Cumberbatch's performance as
dragon and the Necromancer scared the hell out of me! His voice AND motion capture!
;-P It was brilliant, especially in IMAX 3D! This dragon is probably
unsurpassable in the world of movies. He's not just a fire-breathing lizard, but
a clever and evil creature. The facial expressions that they transferred from
the actors also made him more realistic. Anyone would bow his head in front of
Smaug the tyrannical! (Well, I would probably just crap my pants! xD And I
grabbed at my seat the whole time during the dragon scenes.) And Bilbo can even
talk to him! At this point I would also like to remark on Martin Freeman's
amazing performance! He didn't see the dragon in front of him while shooting.
With only Peter Jackson to tell him that the dragon is coming and will breath
fire at him, he acted as if this creature that was later edited in, was
actually there in all its enormity. He and Benedict were never in the same room
and in my opinion both should win an award for that.
Probably not so award-winning was Orlando Bloom's
performance. Okay, he was back as Legolas and seemed to have fun with it, but
it was the first time that I noticed that he can't really act. The
disconcerting contact lenses didn't help either. I loved the reference to LOTR,
though, when Legolas sees the picture of Gimli.
I liked the fierceness of the Mirkwood elves and
Tauriel as a tough she-elf. Yes, I know that the fandom wasn't very keen on
her, but if you excuse me, I have to let out my inner feminist for a second. (I
can't help it! This side of me started to grow since I HAVE TO write my BA
thesis on a feminist topic.) It's a little spice in the mixture when an
independent female character is also introduced to this world next to this male
dominance of dwarves gruesome orcs, wizards and man, man, man! ;-) (Ok, I'm
done now. *feminist goes back into the lair where it came from*) I found it
quite interesting, but of course it's not Tolkien's way of doing things at all.
The love triangle didn't really contribute to the
story line. Some would even argue it was completely unnecessary. I found it was
a comic relief from all the darkness and running away from foul creatures in
the movie. It was cute if a little awkward, particularly, when it came to the
healing scene. It was just a bad copy of the scene in LOTR, when Frodo is
healed by Arwen. Also, fans are worried
about the weirdness of a love story between a dwarf and an elf. Personally, I
don't think that there will be much of it. First, it's still a movie adaptation
of Tolkien despite the changes made and that means the focus is on brotherhood,
honour and battles. There won't be too much of a love story to go mad about. Second,
I don't think Tauriel is really in love with either of them. She admires both
Legolas and Kili and has a certain fondness for them, but I think she is more
of an independent woman who won't need a man on her side. (Sorry! That was probably
my inner feminist again. Keeps creeping out like Ungolianth's spawn. *sends it
back into the lair*) If they stick to the book, Kili will die anyway and
Tauriel might as well. Who knows? Just some theories of mine. I could be
totally wrong. We'll have to wait for the next movie to find out.
I loved the chills and
thrills this movie gave me: the amazing action sequence with the barrels! It
was hysterical: Bombur turning into a one dwarf war-machine, Legolas fighting
on their heads and balancing there single-legged.
To bring my short review to
an end, (there would be so much more to say! ;-) ) I can only say: Loved it!
Loved it! Loved it! =)
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