The Lord of the Rings

The Desolation of Smaug

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
  • IMDB: link

The Desolation of SmaugThe quest of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and his dwarves to reclaim the lost kingdom of Erebor under the Lonely Mountain continues in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Captured by elves, attacked by orcs, and journeying into the depths of the lost kingdom, the sequel is more successful than The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey but still suffers from director Peter Jackson taking his damn sweet time with unnecessary subplots and a host of new characters to introduce.

Of all the new faces in the second of three films needed to adapt a 300-page children’s book, Evangeline Lilly stands out. In Tauriel we finally get a prominent female elf who is more warrior than ethereal plot device (Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler). The plot thread of Tauriel forced to balance here duty to her king (Lee Pace) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) against her unexpected feelings for a dwarf (Aidan Turner) is one of the film’s most-successful storylines.

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Coming Soon

/ / Film News & Trailers
  • Title: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
  • IMDB: link

We now have our first full-length trailer for the second part of director Peter Jackson‘s retelling of J.R.R. Tolkein‘s The Hobbit which promises two things we didn’t get in the first film – barrels and Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, John Callen, William Kircher, Peter Hambleton, James Nesbitt, and Stephen Hunter all return. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in theaters on December 13th.

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The Hobbit: An Expected, and Familiar, Journey

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  • IMDB: link

“I’m looking for someone to share in an adventure.”

hobbit-unexpected-journey-posterAfter several delays, including the director and the Tolkien estate both separately suing New Line Cinema and a brief flirtation with Guillermo del Toro taking over the project, Peter Jackson returns to Middle Earth for J. R. R. Tolkien‘s The Hobbit. Roughly one-third of the 300-page children’s fantasy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey feels far too familiar, somewhat less magical, and far more expected, than the title would indicate.

Our story, oddly, begins on the same day as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring with Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) beginning to chronicle his adventures for his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood), while waiting for Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to arrive to celebrate the Hobbit’s 111th birthday. After this somewhat awkward (not to mention completely unnecessary) sequence, our story finally beings in earnest as the younger Bilbo (Martin Freeman) meets Gandalf the Grey and thirteen dwarves for an impromptu dinner which will forever change his life.

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The Return of the King

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  • IMDB: link

lotr-return-of-the-king-posterAlthough the final entry in director Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the one which took home the Academy Award for Best Picture, I’ve always felt The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the most problematic of all three films (and not only because of the 18 or so separate endings).

We begin with the film shoehorning a big section of The Two Towers into this film (while ignoring more than half Tolkien’s final novel) by including an extended sequence of Frodo (Elijah Wood), Sam (Sean Astin), and Gollum‘s (Andy Serkis) journey along Cirith Ungol before even reaching the giant spider Shelob‘s lair (all of which actually takes place in The Two Towers), and finally to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring.

The rest of the film focuses on Gandalf‘s (Ian McKellen) return to Minas Tirith to unsuccessfully rally the Steward of Gondor (John Noble), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) finally accepting his destiny and journeying through the Paths of the Dead, and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields between Mordor and the combined forces of Rohan and Gondor.

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The Two Towers

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
  • IMDB: link

“There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”

lotr-two-towers-posterThe second film from director Peter Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy is, in my opinion, the best and most under appreciated film of the series.

Although Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam‘s (Sean Astin) slow journey to nowhere with Gollum (Andy Serkis) grows a bit tedious at times (as it does in the beginning of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as well), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers provides many of the trilogy’s best sequences including the battle at Helms Deep and introduces several new characters in Gollum and the warriors of Rohan who will play important roles not only in this film but in the upcoming final battle with Sauron and the armies of Mordor.

The film begins with Frodo and Sam striking out on their own for Mordor and Mount Doom. Meanwhile Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) hunt down Peregrin Took (Billy Boyd) and Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) who were taken by Saruman‘s orcs, who mistakenly believe one of the two Hobbits to be carrying the One Ring.

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