Der Hobbit - Smaugs Einöde The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug		2013-12-15
	Darsteller / Actors	Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage etc.
	Regie / Director	Peter Jackson
	Web
	Laufzeit: Total run time	3h
	Vö / Release FSK/not under:	12 December 2013 K-12
Content: The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug the dragon. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring. Admittedly, I went to watch part 2 of the Hobbit-trilogy with mixed feelings - why 3, 2 parts would have been more than enough? And 3h - a real challenge for anybody´s bladder. Not to mention my Arachnophobia, a reason why I was not really looking forward to the visualisation of the Mirkwood chapter. However, I had appreciated the fact that there was much more background (e.g. from Silmarillion, LOTR and its appendices) added to Tolkien´s original The Hobbit book plot in part 1 and a bit more room given for interesting minor characters (Radagast), and of course the overall much darker mood of the film. Director Peter Jackson´s motive surely was to link his new movies with the LOTR trilogy, yet it sometimes in part 1 it felt like "stretching", and unnecessarily. For example, when the dwarfs scenes turned into slapstick, or when there was yet another Orc ambush they had to escape from ... Well, actually the Hobbit middle part turned out to be better than I expected. First, it did not feel like "stretched" at all, those 3h flew by in a wink. Several characters gain depth as they receive more attention (e.g. Thranduil, played by Lee Pace); especially Bard becomes "real", living in the Laketown society with "real" problems we can easily relate to (e.g. corrupt administration). Other characters like Tauriel, purely invented for the movie by the screenwriter team (Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro), actually provide a nice "modern" addition to the story, not only as "element of surprise" for people who are familiar with Tolkien´s books. I am looking forward to find out how her quite unexpected link to the dwarf expedition continues in part 3 ... Second, as there is more background information and links to LOTR, the movie actually "repairs" some holes in the book plot, e.g. Gandalf´s peculiar disappearances from the Lonely Mountain expedition. Apropos LOTR references - there are several tongue-in-cheek moments for the expert fan to enjoy. And third - the biggest surprise for me: The Mirkwood episode was bearable even for an Arachnophobiac, as those huge spiders were so over-the-top... yet I have to admit that my determination to watch 100% of it had to be cut down to only 85% ... BUT STILL... I probably don´t need to mention the visual element of this movie experience and those many breathtaking fight&flight-scenes... Summing up, this second Hobbit-film is definitely a must-watch. The worst thing is once again that we have to wait for another year to see part 3 ... PS: Scandinavian fans might also enjoy that Beorn is played by Swedish actor Mikael Persbrand (e.g. "Beck" TV series). Klaudia Weber Read comments: Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /var/customers/webs/stalker/www.stalker.cd/inc/kommentar.inc.php on line 8 0                           Write comments
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