I tried. Honestly. I tried to give Peter Jackson's new Hobbit movies a fair shake. As my previous review shown, I said nice things about the first movie despite them not necessarily needing to be said.
After spending an addition three hours watching the second entry into the Lord of the Rings "prequels", I'm not in as kind of a mood. This film is entirely too long, and feels like it is being intentionally stretched to fill three films.
Other items just didn't belong, such as the numerous scenes with Legolas. In the first movie, a brief shot of Frodo served to bridge the two trilogies. I understand that. To write in Legolas to the extent he is in "Smaug" just doesn't make sense. It is like Jackson is throwing out all of his directorial sensibilities and has become nothing but a purveyor of fan fiction.
The effects are also nowhere close to the level of those in Lord of the Rings. During the middle of the movie, we are "treated" to the dwarves escaping Elves by floating in barrels down a fast moving river. The effects are truly horrible. At times I couldn't tell if I was watching a real movie or one of the throwaway garbage titles that are featured extensively on the SyFy Channel.
The little bit of redemption in this one is near the end. It is the character of Smaug, which is obviously where all of the special effects budget for this one went. His interaction with Bilbo and the eventual action scene tied to it was the true highlight of the movie, but comes way past the point that you actually care about the characters.
Please, at this point I can't recommend anything but skipping these series entirely, much like I recommend with the Star Wars prequels.
I beg you.
Quality: 4/10
Rewatchability: 2/10
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