(For those who read the book and also watched the movie, and might be disturbed that the film differed from the book, I refer you to my general comments on the film trilogy.)
I loved the part where Bilbo (played brilliantly by Martin Freeman) interacts with Smaug the Dragon (played in a CGI depiction by Benedict Cumberbatch, who also provided the voice) in the dwarf mines under the mountain. I also loved the depictions of so many scenes from the book, including Lake-town, the realm of the Wood-Elves, the mines of Erobar (under the Lonely Mountains), and many other scenes which often displayed the wonder of the New Zealand landscape.
However, as I mentioned in my last post on the first film of this trilogy, the pacing at times seems to drag in this 2 and a half hour film. So, for example, while I enjoyed some of the following scenes, I also felt they tended to drag on for too long, including: the fight of the dwarves against Smaug, the amount of time spent in Lake-town by all too many - the company of dwarves, the orcs, as well as the elves, and, the amount of time spent in the realm of the Wood-Elves. I did not feel the same about the amount of time the film spent at Gol Dugur, since, though this portion did not appear in the original book, it did supply back-story based on other works by Tolkein.
Therefore, I recommend this film with some hesitation. It did well at the box office. It garnered 3 Academy Award nominations with no awards, though it won other awards.
In the end, I applaud anyone who attempts to bring an epic book of this proportion to the screen. I only wish they were not as concerned about turning it into a prequel for something filmed more that 10 years ago.
The Hobbit (the book)
The Hobbit (the film trilogy)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
The Lewis Tolkien Friendship
