This time last year (and how quick it has gone!), director Peter Jackson unveiled the first installment of his Lord of the Rings prequel trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The film did reasonably well at the box-office but was ridiculed for its usage of 48 fps to add to the original criticism about stretching the 300-odd page novel into a trilogy. But nevertheless, many fans have elected to keep faith with the Hobbit franchise as our heroes encounter more danger and old-school nostalgia in the middle film, The Desolation of Smaug. A word of warning though, there is the small matter of a certain dragon waking up….

SYNOPSIS: The journey continues for Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Thorin (Richard Armitage) and the band of dwarfs as they carry on their quest to reach Erebor. Along the way, they are faced with more danger from orcs, giant spiders and the Elves including Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Tauriel (Evangeline Lily). Once they finally reach Lake-Town, they must try to enter the Lonely Mountain in order to reclaim the dwarf kingdom but face peril in the form of the sinister dragon Smaug. In the meantime, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) decides to seek out the Necromancer in Dol Guldur which produces terrifying results that could signal the beginning of the end for Middle Earth.

While An Unexpected Journey may have across a bit too much like Fellowship with its narrative, Desolation of Smaug manages to take on a more compelling structure which is enhanced by a solid combination of sharp character building and stunning action scenes that make it superior to its predecessor. But like Two Towers, you get the sense that Jackson is setting things up nicely for the concluding There and Back Again as key characters become involved in tough situations that will be resolved once and for all this time next year. The story has a much darker and epic feel to it which is reassuring to those who didn’t like the childish tone of Unexpected. With the dark element, the psychological obsession with the One Ring and the Arkenstone begins to impact on both Bilbo and Thorin. Those who have watched the original trilogy will know how dedicated the former was to his ‘precious’ and this is hinted at strongly in a scene where he mercifully kills a baby spider who stands between him and the ring. But despite this bleakness, the lightheartedness is still there as we are treated to some witty references to the original trilogy. Despite not existing in the Hobbit novel, Legolas’ presence is a welcoming sight for Rings fans while there are other moments of nostalgia to savour such as a humorous mention of Gimli. The action also rarely lets go as our heroes battle with deadly spiders in the hallucinatory Mirkwood forest as well as their crisply-executed escape from the Elven prison as they try to stay afloat on barrels while being confronted by orcs and the accurate arrow-firing from the Elves. However these sequences only pale in comparison when it comes to the pulsating showdown with Smaug as we finally get to see him in all his intimidating glory. The creation of this beast is perfectly masterminded by Richard Taylor and his dedicated production team with the additional bonus being the actor they chose to voice him. With his booming (yet altered) voice, Benedict Cumberbatch does a fantastic job of capturing the sneering presence of Smaug particularly in his face-off with Bilbo even before the flames are unleashed. What follows is a lengthy and breathtaking conclusion to the film that will excite audiences as things are set up nicely for next year’s final installment. All this excitement does overshadow some of the performances but they still remain memorable. Martin Freeman produces a more open and grounded take on Bilbo while Richard Armitage continues to excel as the self-obsessed Thorin. The old boys like Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom are more or less the same as usual but it’s great to see the latter back to action-packed form while Evangeline Lily is a welcoming addition as the newly-conceived Tauriel, a character who never existed in the original book.

But like Unexpected Journey, this outing is bogged down by Jackson’s new-found obsession with filming in 48 fps. While the visual effects are expertly used in various action scenes, you can also tell that some CGI backfires and this continues to be a problem for these films especially when the effects in the original trilogy remain as rich and immaculate as ever. The inclusion of Tauriel is a shrewd one by Jackson but while Lily does a satisfying job in her role, her romantic subplot with Legolas and dwarf Kili (Aidan Turner) fails to work and comes across as needless and predictable.

VERDICT: Desolation of Smaug does suffer continuous flaws with its computer game-style CGI but is a vast improvement on the previous Hobbit outing and benefits from a darker tone and thrilling set-pieces. The end of our cinematic bond with Middle-Earth is in sight!