Saturday, June 7, 2014

IMDB 250 - The Hobbit : The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit : The Desolation of Smaug (2013)


In my previous review of the first "Hobbit" movie I said the movie was enjoyable but I didn't understand the whole magic aspect. This movie picks up where the last one left off and runs with it... and from start to finish, I didn't understand a single thing in it. Not a single thing. I don't know why anything happens to anything else. I'm watching it saying to myself "why?", "what?" and "why?" and also "what?".

At one point, the gang is off on their quest doing the whole "quest" business and Gandalf says peace out and just goes off and does his own thing. I even think he says at the time, "This place is dead anyway", but I'd have to rewatch it to be sure. As much as I didn't understand the "A" story, I understood the Gandalf sub-plot even less. Much less. From memory: he goes to a place, he talks with a guy, he sees a vision, he turns the "Lost" wheel and transports to another Dharma station. Is it wrong to think he's bored? Maybe he's senile and wandering aimlessly. I hope he comes back to the movie at some point.

So without any understanding of the larger picture (or any of the specific details), I'm left with the fantasy and spectacle aspects. Even if I don't know why the giant spiders are attacking, between the spiders and dwarves it's easy to know who to root for. There are many "action" scenes in this movie and they work are at least still enjoyable on a simple visceral suspense level. It would be pretty hard to not enjoy a giant battle or a giant dragon or a giant battle with a giant dragon.

6/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 382.

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