"The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug" MOVIE REVIEW

Synopsis

The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

The Review

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit considered to be a timeless tale and its success a pinnacle to the fantasy genre. Successful enough for the author to work on it's sequel, Lord Of The Rings considered to be THE greatest among them. Less than a century later, Hollywood's live-action adaptation of Lord Of The Rings astounds the entire world, becoming one of the best trilogies of all time. But what of The Hobbit?

At this point, it is obvious that the book will be separated into three films; first act (An Unexpected Journey), second act (The Desolation of Smaug) and the third act (There And Back Again). The separation has it's advantages and sadly some disadvantages as well. Like the first installment, their's no doubt An Unexpected Journey and this film dragged at times. Their also seems to very little character development as the movie takes its time to fill in enough for the one you're watching but would leaving sufficient material for the next one. But Director Peter Jeckson has a few answers for the gaps that includes additional characters, plot points and over-exaggerating a scene or two, actually quite a few of them. 

One of the best things about the film is the cast. Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) was surprisingly one of the highlights of the movie, expanded with her growing romance with Kili (Aidan Turner). Also, Legolas is back. Yeah? remember that guy Hanna Montana (or Miley Cyrus before she turned into a Bizarro-version of herself) used to really crush on? Yeah, Orlando Bloom! He's back as Legolas. Younger, more agressive and surprisingly a jackass just like his old man, Thranduil (Lee Pace). Also, Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt) the skin-changer had very little screen time in this film. Then there's Bard (Luke Eavns, Orlando Bloom v.2) who did a pretty good job in his role, but surprisingly had more to do in the film than in the book. Lastly, we have the undeniably (one of, if not the) best dragon in a live-action film; Smaug, brought to life by Benedict Cumberbatch. Even if only being present in the third act of the film, Smaug has given enough suspense of being malevolent not only to Bilbo and the pack, but also to the audience as well. You think it's funny how a CG dragon is the best character of the movie, wait till you see the movie itself. 

Even if the certain aspect was received with mixed reviews, I would personally say that the 480 fps worked perfectly for this film. The film looking brighter than ever, thus reminding us the tonal difference of this film from The Lord Of The Rings. The film has also spectacular set pieces and landscape shots of New Zealand just looks gorgeous as you could remember it. Gladly, the movie had more action sequences in it. The filmmakers though has decided to over-exaggerate these scenes. Which in the viewer's perspective, could either add up the entertainment value or just seem to over the top and a bit out of proportion. Also, the movie has top-notch CG but no need to elaborate that, we already knew it since the first film. 

Final Verdict

With the second act of the booked stretched to have its own first, second and third act, Desolation of Smaug still feels hauled yet satisfying enough as a filler between the first film and the third film. There is enough goodies to entertain Tolkien fans, but casual viewers might feel that unlike The Lord Of The Rings films, there isn't enough material three films. Honestly, there could have been just two films. 

Starring Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Stephen Fry, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, William Kircher, James Nesbitt and Stephen Hunter. "The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug" is directed by Peter Jackson. The film is produced by Peter Jackson, Carolyne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug opens in theaters on December 13, 2013. 

"Thor: The Dark World" Movie REVIEW

Synopsis

Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World” continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, ashe battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s “Thor” and “Marvel’s The Avengers,” Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

The Review

We've seen great superhero movies and terrible ones, Director Kenneth Branagh's 2011 epic "Thor" falls somewhere in between in those lines. It wasn't spectacular yet it's not a terrible movie. Thor had so much potential but with a rushed production, it came short on many aspects. That movie was "okay" for me, so I wasn't expecting much for this year's sequel. Back to the real question, how was the movie "Thor: The Dark World"? It was "okay". Let me elaborate.

With the 2011 film leaves room for growth and improvements for the sequel, Director Alan Taylor and the team did took their time and bigger budget given to them by the studio to surpass the first film. The change of director is clearly visible through the style of how the film was shot. The set pieces got some major improvements, Asgard looks more lively, functional and realistic in this movie whereas it seems the realm was lifeless and unpopulated in the first film. In short, Asgard looks more beautiful in this film. Granted I didn't see the movie in 3D, but the effects looks really promising on this film, probably one of this film's biggest selling point.

The cast did a pretty fine job. You'd be surprised how little screen time some of the other characters have, but it's understandable since it's a requirement of the plot that the main focuses would be Thor, Jane Foster and Loki. The actors who played these respective roles did there job done well. We see some characters grow from the previous releases. But there were no major improvements on their performances, nothing that we hadn't seen in Thor or in the 2012 mega-blockbuster The Avengers. 

Given the fact that this film had troubles way back in productions, some fear that it has left scars for the movie. Gladly in spite of its short comings, Thor: The Dark World still delivered enough goodies for fans and movie goers to enjoy. For starters, the movie was given a dark premise and the film heads on to a more serious tone as it should be. The action scenes was visually pure eye-candy; good editing, promising angles and a well choreograph throwdown. Unfortunately, it was the heart that was lacking in this movie. You feel that you should be engaged by the level of the impending threat, the drama that comes and even the villain itself Malekith (we'll get to him later). But you don't feel that engaged to this film as you should be. Then comes the part where most fans complain about some recent Marvel movies (I'm looking at you, Iron Man 3!) the humor. Thankfully the film has less humor than it should, but still features some unnecessary jokes that weren't even funny at all and some just felt forced. Now there's Malekith, who isn't even as threatening as our favorite Marvel villain, Loki. Just be honest, you'd still prefer the God of Mischief over the dark elf. 

This movie doesn't really had much easter eggs in it. Be sure to stay to the mid-credits as we are introduced to an semi-thrilling yet dull looking introduction for Marvel's next film "Guradians of The Galaxy". The end credit scene, was just pure cheese fest, passable if you didn't really care about Thor-Jane relationship. Also, there is one cameo appearance that I didn't expect to see, but I sure did enjoy a lot. 

Final Verdict

With our future Marvel movies aiming to be more family friendly and humor-filled, Thor: The Dark World was a well balanced film in term of tone, but lacks the heart as a movie itself. You feel like the movie avoided to be so bad but it didn't wanted to be the best. Sometimes, being just good isn't good enough. But if their's one thing this movie succeeds is that it surpassed it predecessor on many levels. 

Starring Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano and Jaimie Alexander with Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins as Odin, “Thor: The Dark World” is directed by Alan Taylor. The film is produced by Kevin Feige, while executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Victoria Alonso, Craig Kyle and Nigel Gostelow. Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Thor: The Dark World opens in theaters on November 8, 2013.