Movie Review - The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

The second part of the three part adaptation of the relatively short book of The Hobbit has now hit the screens and is doing big business around the globe. So is this movie a fantasy thrill ride or a padded out pile of perfunctory pap?

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug sees everyone's favorite Hobbit, Bilbo (Martin Freeman), and his dwarf colleagues on the run from some rather nasty orcs in their continuing attempt to reach the dwarves home of Erebor.  Complicating matters further is the dragon, Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch), has taken up residence and to get what they need Bilbo will have to sneak past him.

Okay, cards on the table time. I am not a fan of The Lord Of The Ring series or their original written versions. I can certainly admire the visuals and the impressive efforts of Peter Jackson and co in bringing this fantasy series to life but at the end of the day it comes down to style over substance. 

Desolation manages to ramp up the action a bit over its predecessor (which I mostly slept through) but the problem remains that every single set up, every conversation, every establishing shoot just takes so long that any sense of urgency just dissipates. I guess it's a good sign that I slept less during this movie but the fact remains that boredom still sets in.

Performances are great, the visual effects and scenery are stunning, it all sounds great and there are plenty of characters who would be interesting if they didn't rabbit on so much so the real issue comes back to how drawn out this whole adventure is.  Even the cliffhanger ending failed to instil me with any enthusiasm for the final part.

The Hobbit probably could support a trilogy if the individual movies where a bit leaner. I am pretty sure there is a pretty good 80 minute movie contained within this 160 minute marathon. It's such a shame it got buried in the padding.

Alternative title - The Over Long Conversation Of Smaug.

Movie Review - Star Trek Into Darkness

JJ Abrams latest journey into intergalactic spectacle is certainly a, well, spectacle.

The set up sees James T Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) in trouble after a routine scan of a primitive planet doesn't go the way it should.  Stripped of his command Kirk is taken on as the first officer on  the starship Enterprise by Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood), the man who convinced Kirk to join Starfleet in the first movie.

Soon after a huge explosion takes out an archive facility an emergency meeting of the Starfleet high command convenes and they are attacked by one man, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), introducing us to the ruthless villain of the piece.  Kirk gets put back into the boss chair of The Enterprise and is sent to find Harrison and blow him into as many small pieces as possible.

Beyond that, it is very difficult to talk specifics without spoilers.  But I can say we are treated to spectacular action that comes at a relentless pace with very little down time.  There is so much running in this movie I am actually having a hard time remembering when characters just walked.  Between explosions, fire fights, fist fights, running, explosions, jumping, explosions, jumping from explosions, running, running from fights, running to fights and general shenanigans it's a wonder the actors had any breath left to deliver their dialogue.

In the brief down times there is some great interaction between characters and Simon Pegg as Scotty stylishly delivers much of the needed sensibility in amongst the chaos.

The chaos sometimes seem to be put in place to stop us thinking about some of the plot devices slipped into the very few quiet bits.  For example Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Spock have continued their relationship from the first movie and suddenly there are tensions for reasons.  When we find out the cause they make sure something explodes before anyone has the chance to think, "Hang on, they have been together for how long and it took *spoiler deleted* to make her realise *spoiler deleted* about him?"

In the end however this is a fun movie with plenty of nods to the original series.  Those knowledgeable enough about the previous incarnation will probably guess the big twist before it happens but it doesn't detract from the sheer enjoyment of going along for the ride.  There are a few too many convenient occurrences but if you let yourself go it's easy enough to overlook them.

So set your phasers to stun and aim them at the analytical part of your brain. Then sit back and watch the running explosion zappy boom movie.

In a word - *Spoiler deleted*