Confessions first, neither I am very fond of creepy creature sci-fi Hollywood
adventures nor I had been a factual follower of ‘THE
LORD OF THE RINGS’ series. So without bothering about what was all in the first
of THE HOBBIT trilogy when I decided to visit the nearest multiplex to watch
the latest in series, my only expectation was to have a good leisure time of
nearly 3 hrs at a stretch without being supersede by excessive power play of visual
effects and extreme action mixed with unwanted labyrinth of subplots.
I
know I was hoping for much, considering recent science fiction movies not being
competent to overwhelm us but to my surprise, Peter Jackson’s THE HOBBIT- THE DESOLATION OF
SMAUG didn’t disappoint me at all. With no assessment of earlier parts in hand,
I must say it is quite an engaging experience all together [though being in 3D viewing
format itself brings lots of advantages to not have much option but to keep
yourself looking at the screen].
Martin Freeman plays the courageous-gutsy
& street smart hobbit Bilbo Baggins, responsible to lead a group of dwarves
headed by once a ruling king Thorin [played by Richard Armitage] in order and
desperation to regain their power. En route to this quest of their lifetime;
first they need to pass through a pathway in the mysterious jungle crammed with
confusions and giant Spiders then to wrestle their muscle and mental strength
out with defaced-dreadful evil forces and finally to unleash the wrath of fiery
dragon Smaug [Benedict Cumberbatch in his ‘hear me only’ voice-over avatar].
Watching a film for almost 3
hours is not very regular idea of entertainment these days, but Peter Jackson makes sure despite
a ‘predictable at most places’-lengthy- less juicy storyline, the breathtaking
visuals especially grabbed in the most-effective aerial shots, non-stop
breathless action providing you very less time to counter its significance, a
smartly written screenplay to give more playground to humor component than
going one-dimensional to the emotional route and the flawlessly charming VFX
works fill your appetite for a good entertainment.
On the performance page, it is
Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of Smaug the dragon who steals the show in
the last 45 minutes. His monstrous, gruesome, ghastly tone of voice never falls
short in chilling your bones in fright. Martin Freeman charms with his effortless
acting skills and the comic timing even in midst of mountain-high fear. Watch out
for his face-off with the dragon and also the barrel fight sequence that stands out
in many of such engaging scenes.
Overall, you may not be very familiar with the breeds
and names if you are watching it for the first time as your first exposure to
the series [like me] but do not you worry, this film never bothers you much for
that but sure leaves you unfulfilled with an open-ended
climax that urges you to wait for the next in the lot. Holding a fort for 2
hour 42 minutes is not an easy task. Peter
Jackson’s THE HOBBIT- THE DESOLATION OF
SMAUG does that effortlessly. Watch it for a good time with friends. [3/5]
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