Escape-athon Review: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug picks up shortly after the end of An Unexpected Journey. Titular hobbit Bilbo Baggins and his companions are still trying to make their way to the Lonely Mountain to face Smaug. Gandalf unexpectedly parts ways with the group but they still manage to make it to the mountain and Smaug. But can they defeat him?

Warner Bros

I really enjoyed this film, and that’s coming from someone who was pretty disappointed with the first one. What’s different? Well, for one thing, the dreaded high frame rate is a lot better in this film. It was very jarring right off the bat in the first Hobbit but I didn’t mind it as much here. Still, anything that’s predominantly CGI and fast paced looks pretty terrible to me. For instance, the “ring vision” (whenever Bilbo puts on the ring) is pretty tough to watch.

I also feel like the acting was a little stronger here. Newcomer Lee Pace was creepy as an elf king. Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel the elf was dreamy (a little dramatic at times, but dreamy). I really enjoyed her unexpected romance with Aidan Turner’s Kili. Orlando Bloom was...Orlando Bloom. Luke Evans as Bard was an unexpectedly compelling character.

Other than the high frame rate, the effects were a mixed bag for me. Before seeing the movie I read (see badassdigest.com) that several of the CGI villains were originally played by actors in costume and makeup. I’m not sure why the filmmakers decided to replace them with CGI characters. It definitely made me nostalgic for the practical character effects from the original Lord of the Rings films (although, that’s not to say that Desolation had no good practical effects).

On the other side of the spectrum, I think they did a great job on Smaug the dragon. Both Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance and the computer rendered dragon were amazing and the film really jumped up a notch once Bilbo met Smaug.

Another positive is that the whole film had an old-fashioned fantasy feel to it for me. This could have easily been a film I watched growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s but I’m not sure why. It could all be simply because I grew up on that creepy Rankin and Bass version of The Hobbit and I’m simply remembering that.

At the end of the day, I liked this sequel a hundred times more than the first film and I was actually a little disappointed when the movie ended (with a huge cliffhanger, no less). I can only hope that the second sequel and final chapter in the film, There and Back Again, improves on this film as well.

3.5 Out Of 5 Stars

Favorite Scene Friday! The Lord of the Rings: "I would have followed you, my brother..."

This week’s Favorite Scene Friday has the distinction of kicking off Escape-athon 2014. And while the scene is from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - one of the greatest fantasy films of the last few decades of all time - there really isn’t anything particularly "fantastic" about it. There’s no magic in it and really no special effects to be seen. A great battle between men, hobbits, monsters, an elf, and a dwarf has just taken place, but we don’t see any of it in this bit. We do get the aftermath, however, and that’s why I’m highlighting it.

To set the scene a little bit, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), bearer of the One Ring, has been traveling with his companions, the Fellowship of the Ring. Their mission: toss the ring into the fires of Mount Doom. The group is eventually attacked by a huge battalion of Uruk-hai who are bent on stopping Frodo. The hobbit runs off on his own, set on finishing his mission. Sean Bean's Boromir (whose intentions and loyalties had been unclear - he borderline attacked Frodo shortly before the battle) tries valiantly to save hobbits Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan) - "the little ones" as he calls them :'( - but is all but killed by the Uruk-hai. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) appears and is able to kill the leader of the Uruk-hai before the monster can behead Boromir. Then...this scene happens.



Something that’s been a little lacking in the new Hobbit films as compared to the Lord of the Rings films has been the acting and emotion. I struggle to think of any scene like this one in the new films and I haven't really connected with any of the characters the way I did with Aragorn, Boromir, and the rest of the fellowship. This short clip between Aragorn and Boromir features some of the best acting in either of the franchises and is one of the few that really gets to me on an emotional level. It's an incredibly emotional scene that highlights sacrifice, brotherhood, and redemption.

I know this is a heavy way to kick off Escape-athon, but this is a great chance to showcase a fantastic, emotional scene in an epic fantasy film. I promise the rest of the month will be a little more upbeat. Happy Friday!

Batch o’ Hatch: A Shit Ton of Awesome Trailers, Escapism at The Green Dragon Pub, and New Logo!!!

A Shit Ton of Awesome Trailers

We got an awesome amount of new trailers over the past week or so, guys. Star Trek Into Darkness, The Lone Ranger, Man of Steel, and OHMYGODPACIFICRIM!!!! Forget all those other trailers, just watch this one! It’s got everything - Idris Elba, ninja shit, giant monsters, giant robots, ROCKET PUNCH!



What do you think of the trailer for Pacific Rim?

Escapism: The Green Dragon Pub

So Niki over at JoBlo.com recently highlighted this awesome bar in Hobbiton, New Zealand. Yes, you can drink some brew in a magical Hobbit village and don’t you dare pretend you wouldn’t want to.

Who’s buying the first round?

New Logo!!!

You may have noticed our spiffy new logo above, courtesy of Mr. Bill Wiist. Gandalf himself dropped by to mark the occasion. Special thanks to CT from Nerd Lunch for referring us to Bill.

Do you like our new logo? :) Do you hate it? :(

Tweets

I agree, Pax.

Bill Murray back in for Ghostbusters 3?! At this point I'm like, "F**k you. All of you." - whatculture.com/film/bill-murr…
— Paxton Holley (@paxtonholley) December 4, 2012

@TarsTarkasnet, engaged in some #RightQuoteWrongFilm.

"You're a wizard, Harry." - Harry and the Hendersons #rightquotewrongfilm
— HoHoHoTarsTarkas.NET (@TarsTarkasnet) December 5, 2012

Pete from I Love That Film, summing up how I initially felt about the Man of Steel trailer.

Meh of Steel more like it.
— Pete Turner (@ilovethatfilm) December 11, 2012

Dan does nothing to assuage my fears about 48 FPS.

48 frames-per-second just makes everybody in the movie seem like they are way too hyper.
— Dan O'Neill (@DantheMan610) December 12, 2012

Thanks for reading! And now, it's question time again...

The $64,000 Question

 Click the pic and have a Happy Hobbit Weekend!