The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Director: Peter Jackson

Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro, J.R.R. Tolkien

Composer: Howard Shore

Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Dean O'Gorman, Aidan Turner, John Callan, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mikael Persbrandt, Sylvester McCoy, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Beyond darkness... beyond desolation... lies the greatest danger of all.

Plot: After successfully crossing over (and under) the Misty Mountains, Thorin and Company must seek aid from a powerful stranger before taking on the dangers of Mirkwood Forest--without their Wizard. If they reach the human settlement of Lake-town it will be time for the hobbit Bilbo Baggins to fulfill his contract with the dwarves. The party must complete the journey to Lonely Mountain and burglar Baggins must seek out the Secret Door that will give them access to the hoard of the dragon Smaug. And, where has Gandalf got off to? And what is his secret business to the south?

My rating: 9/10

Will I watch it again? YES!!!

While I enjoyed THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (2012), it felt lacking that magic Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy had.  Upon watching HOBBIT for a second time (the slightly longer extended version), it held up a little better.  I was hoping that this middle film in the trilogy would at least feel better and it does.  It's a solid home run and it's so much more enjoyable than the first film in that the magic of the LOTR trilogy is back and it's a damn fine film and loads of fun.  The introduction of Legolas is well done and I actually like Bloom's performance better here than in LOTR.  And the badass elf-chick, Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), was loads of fun.  I could name every character and actor that I liked but that would take all day.  It's been years since I read the book and I was worried that Jackson and co. would be shooting themselves in the Hobbit feet by expanding it to span three films at probably a length of about 9 hours once all of the extended editions are out.  The first film made me even more nervous with how it felt like it was loaded with filler.  Any doubts I had have been squashed by seeing TH:TDOS.  It's fantastic and it's got one hell of a cliffhanger.  I will see this again in the theater.  Peter Jackson is back and in a big way.  I'm more excited about this trilogy than ever before. Oh, and the dragon, Smaug, will explode your balls with awesomeness.