250 Words or Less: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

I miss physics.  Without them, the last 10 years or more of CGI action sequences have largely been extended Roadrunner cartoons, and it should noted that Roadrunner cartoons work because a) they're three minutes long, b) they're comedies, and c) you don't need to invest yourself in any life-or-death stakes.  So one way of approaching The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is to say that Peter Jackson seems stuck in both the standards of the times and a quagmire of his own making.  This one is better than the last one, I suppose, but the same issue remains that it feels like Jackson and co., who now have nothing to prove (a deadly condition), are adding things to stretch out the plot.  And in doing so, they are both losing the narrative's focus and dissipating the sense of wonder that their Lord of the Rings trilogy did so well.  Few of the additions—including political intrigue, an elf-elf-dwarf love triangle, and a few Tolkien paragraphs turned into setpieces—feel like they should have been included in the first place.  At its best, there's a certain grandeur that makes the wide shots a joy for the faithful and the nostalgic.  But the atmosphere is cartoonish and the storytelling swollen, ending on an action spectacle where nothing is risked, nothing is settled, and it all goes in circles for 30 minutes.  And like I said, I miss physics.

2.5 out of 5 stars

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is in theaters everywhere, but at the showtime you're looking for, they're probably only showing it in 3D.