Movie Review: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

"You see Mr. Powers...I love gooold!" Image via WhatCulture

If insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again expecting different results, then it is the perfect word to describe my viewing of the "Hobbit" series.

"The Desolation of Smaug" is at least a little better than its predecessor "An Unexpected Journey." However, it still feels like a lot of filler space for a trilogy that did not need to be a trilogy.

"Smaug" begins with a prequel-to-a-prequel introduction where Gandalf (Ian McKellen) meets Thorin (Richard Armitage) at the Prancing Pony (a fun callback to "The Fellowship of the Ring"), and the two of them set the entire "Hobbit" adventure in motion. This little scene is there simply to declare that Thorin, and not Bilbo (Martin Freeman), is the main character of "Smaug."

Movie Review: The World's End

"The World's End" marks the end of the Cornetto trilogy, a trilogy connected only by theme and named after ice cream. It's as much about a trilogy of humans as it is about a trilogy of movies: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost have created a pitch perfect cinematic universe where the code of law is alcoholism and arrested development.

Clearly, I will stay away from all possible spoilers, yet it is important to know that "The World's End" comes full circle in the most, well, circular way possible: it starts and ends with people talking in a circle. In the beginning, it's Gary King (Simon Pegg), a man who is a former shell of himself. Gary is a recovering alcoholic who can't quite erase the memory of the best night of his life: The Golden Mile Pub Crawl.

Movie Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

It took just one musical cue from "The Hobbit" to remind me why I fell in love with the "Lord of the Rings" series in the first place. Perhaps it has been widespread anger on the Internet that's given me nothing but low expectations for "The Hobbit." The result is better than I thought it would be: it's a movie that's all over the place, but one that is very good at being all over the place.

Seeing as the film version of "The Hobbit" was released after the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Peter Jackson gets to give us some nice little winks to a series that ended nine years ago, especially with some surprise cameos. "An Unexpected Journey," the first part of this "Hobbit" trilogy, opens with a long prologue providing more details on the history of Middle Earth. To be honest, I wouldn't have minded if this prologue went on longer. It gave even more life and depth to this imaginary world. From the perspective of someone who didn't read the books, "The Hobbit" succeeds best when it is providing small details and expanding the mythology of Middle Earth. With that, this movie has a true purpose.