Continuing the story of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), the Desolation of Smaug sees him and the company of Dwarves led by Thorin Oakinshield (Richard Armitage) continue to make their way to the kingdom of Erabor to take it back from the mighty Dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) but this will not be easy.
Smaug is a rollicking thrill ride in Middle Earth and resembles much more of that rousing spirit that made the Lord of the Rings films fun to watch, Freeman continues his good form and you can see the traces of Ian Holm more than in the first film but the focus this time is much more on Thorin and Armitage is up to the task of holding his own here, the film also has some very good action sequences most notably being a sequence with barrels while Elves and Orcs fight off each other which is terrifically put together and the climax is also well handled.
But this film belongs to one person and that is Cumberbatch, he literally fly's away with the film and every time he's on screen it is utterly captivating in terms of Smaug's fearsome height and fire breath but also his voice which is just magnificent to listen to, in fact there were times I thought I was hearing Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget it just had that tone to it in places and I did say "Gadget" to myself at times after he finished a sentence, this is for me a much more impressive achievement than Gollum was and it should go down as one of the best digital creations ever made for a feature film.
So all in all, the Desolation of Smaug is a real treat, much more of the rollicking action adventure we wanted from the first Hobbit film and brilliantly sets itself up for the final film next year, 3 and a half out of 5.
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