"The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug" Continues Grand Adventure

Dwarves. Elves. Skin changers. Orcs. Wizards

Those are just some of the characters that populate “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”. If that intrigues you at all, then “The Hobbit” is just the kind of movie to break up your holiday shopping trips to the mall.

Director Peter Jackson’s second installment in his Hobbit trilogy is a beautiful, thrilling spectacle that picks up where we left off in the first movie and charges toward a rousing cliffhanger of an ending.

We’re back in the company of Bilbo Baggins and his hardy band of dwarves who have embarked on a perilous journey to reclaim their homeland from dark forces. Along the way, they must battle the ferocious Orcs, survive passage through a dark, haunted forest and even brave a little romance along the way.

Jackson does a marvelous job in immersing us once again in this vast universe that is both enchanting and terrifying.  We become more familiar with Bilbo and his friends, and the epic battle for the ring that we know is coming, having seen it in the earlier “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

There is a nice mix of humor and drama, as Bilbo and crew race to fight off the darkness that threatens to descend on the land.

And there is tremendous action, highlighted by a stunning set piece with the elves being chased by Orcs as they cascade down a long, raging rapids in barrels. Another action piece – an attack by giant spiders in the dark forest – is equally enthralling.

The movie is visually amazing, with extended panoramic shots of the New Zealand mountains and countryside that stands in for Middle Earth. The score from composer Howard Shore is light when it needs to be and thunderous when the movie demands it.

But if the earlier “Lord of the Rings” trilogy is most famous for the character of Golum and the incredible motion-capture work that actor Andy Sedaris did to bring him to life, then “The Hobbit” is fueled by Smaug, the dragon and main villain of the movie.

The voice work by actor Benedict Cumberbatch brings him to full, fiery life. Smaug is a snarling, arrogant Shakespearean villain who can easily burn down entire villages while admiring the spectacle and tragedy he has created.

The image of the giant and powerful Smaug slithering in his lair is tremendous and the closing moments when he takes flight to rain down fiery death is frightening and awesome. He will go down as one of film history’s biggest villains and definitely its coolest dragon.

The final installment of “The Hobbit” can’t come soon enough.