Movie Review: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

It’s sort of depressing to go into a movie knowing that it’s just part of a story. It was like that for An Unexpected Journey and it’s the same for The Desolation of Smaug. After seeing “Desolation”, I’m convinced that these films will only be enjoyable when I can watch them all in a row.

This is a long movie, but doesn’t drag as much as “Journey”. The plot moves along pretty quickly. While “Journey” was a sort of one long, meandering chase scene, “Desolation” covers three side plots: the woodland elves of Myrkwood, hiding from the orcs in Laketown, and finally, the initial confrontation with Smaug in the Lonely Mountain. Except in the very beginning, the plot moves forward logically. There is even a side-side plot with Gandalf, which is a continuation of what was done in Journey.

The filmmakers took a lot of elements from Lord of the Rings and transplanted them in this film. An elf healing the wound of a morgul blade. An underground chase scene in a dwarven city. A visit to the Prancing Pony complete with strange looks from strange characters. Gandalf finds himself in peril after visiting a rival wizard’s home. It seems like they recycled a few too many scenes.

The inclusion of Legolas was seamless and he had some great scenes, as well as a playful rib at his future relationship with Gimli. Evangeline Lilly played Tauriel, the “other” woodland elf and some of the best scenes in the film were of her relationship with Killi. Lilly is a much better elf than Liv Tyler ever was.

Smaug was a great character. His dialogue was well written and he was menacing. He could have killed the hobbit and dwarves dozens of times over, yet he always had a reason not to. He wanted to make Thorin and Bilbo suffer for different reasons. Just the threat of that power was a thrilling thing. I very much enjoyed Smaug and it was worth the rollercoaster ride of the first two thirds of the film.

I knew this movie would stop somewhere with a cliffhanger. In the book, once the dwarves get to the Lonely Mountain, the story is pretty much over, yet the there is one more movie to get through here. So when Bilbo finally stood before the “greatness” of Smaug, I was waiting for the inevitable cliffhanger. There were almost a dozen places after that where they could have cut if off. However, they kept it going and I was glad for it. After seeing the cliffhanger, I have to agree that it was the logical place to stop.

I saw the movie in 3D with the new 60 frames/second format. This was the worst part of the movie. The 3D was good, but the video looked like a low budget BBC TV show shot on a handheld video camera. Some fast motion blurred strangely and the video look of the picture made some of the sets look artificial. It really took away from immersion in the film. It just looked fake (or maybe too real for a fantasy film). That said, the detail was incredible and seemed to be beyond HD.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, but was wished they had finished the story in this second film. The next movie is “There and Back Again,” and, as expected, will have to stretch out the final battle against Smaug or add a lot more of the Gandalf side-plot in order to make it to two and a half hours.

Overall Score: 8 out of 10

Classic Movie Review: Dragonslayer

There was a time, in the late 70’s and early 80’s, when companies like Walt Disney released several edgy sc-fi/fantasies for young adults. Movies like The Dark Crystal, Willow, Time Bandits, and Labyrinth. These are the classics of fantasy film. I will be reviewing movies like this in weeks where no adult fantasy movies are released in the theaters. These are the films I grew up on and loved. These are the films that drew me to fantasy as a genre I wanted to write. 

Released in 1981, Dragonslayer was one of these films. It wasn’t the cheery kiddie fantasy of Wizard of Oz or Willy Wonka. Nor was it the nudity littered fantasy of Conan the Barbarian or The Sword and the Sorcerer. It was an action-packed adventure with just the right amount of magic, humor and romance for someone into serious fantasy. It was the movie equivalent of the epic fantasy novels I preferred.

Starring Peter MacNichol as the Luke Skywalkerish hero, Galen Bradwarden, Dragonslayer is the story of a bumbling wizard’s apprentice who takes it upon himself to slay a marauding dragon when his master dies before being able to undertake the journey necessary to battle the beast. Galen believes he can fulfill his master’s task thanks to a mysterious amulet left to him by his master that seems to give him magical powers. 

He is stymied by the distrust of the king who has made a pact with the dragon. In exchange for the life of a virgin girl chosen by lottery, the dragon leaves the rest of the kingdom alone. The king believes his system is best for his people and fears that any attempt to kill the dragon will result in reprisal against his kingdom when it ultimately fails.

But when the king’s daughter discovers that she is not included in the lottery, she rigs it so that only her name can be drawn. When it is his own daughter’s life on the line, the king turns to Galen as his only hope of saving her.

The story is one of a man who discovers he doesn’t need a crutch (magic) to be great. When the time comes to battle the dragon, Galen must end the old ways of magic, leaving behind any hope he has of being a great mage. Left unsaid here is that, with the destruction of the dragon, so ends the world of magic. The people of Urland are turning to Christianity and away from the earthly powers of wizards and dragons. It’s a poignant struggle, as we are witnessing the end of wonder. 

{A warning to die hard Christians. The religion is not treated kindly here. If you are offended by such things, you might want to watch something else. This movie depicts Christians as fools, second only to government. It's a bitter pill, but one that is paid off to the rest of us at the end of the movie in the film's final big punchline.}

The movie’s special effects from Industrial Light and Magic still hold up to today’s standards. In some aspects, it exceeds them. The dragon is a lifelike animatronic creature with smooth motion. It is shown at first in spare glimpses, lending a majesty to it that most movie dragons lack. It is not animated, so it has a touch and feel to it that no CGI creature ever could. It is accompanied by sound effects, breathing, moving, the sound of scales rubbing against each other when it moves. When it is finally shown in its full form, it is with excellent stop motion animation, menacing and swift. These effects only fail when the dragon is shown in flight. When the creature is either animated or an animatronic model is pasted on location shots in post-production.

Magical effects are done with hand-drawn animation and lighting. All are well done and convincing. Animated flame effects reflect in the character’s faces. Magical spells come to life with practical lighting and effects. One of the funniest moments in the movie is near the beginning, when Galen is practicing his magic on the hapless old man who was once the wizard Ulrich’s servant. Whatever wire effects were used are seamless on film.

Along with the quality special effects, the film is shot on locations in England, Wales, and Scotland that evince a feel for the fantasy world of Urland. The locations are on par with the New Zealand locations Peter Jackson uses in The Lord of the Rings. Cloudy, mountainous terrain and grassy wilderness. The filmmakers spared no expense with production values. Castle locations and other indoor locations that were probably shot in a soundstage look convincing. There is no green screen used here like in modern day films and TV shows. The walls of the castle look like stone. The interior of the dragon’s cavern-lair is rough-hewn rock, slick with water.

The direction is top notch by writer/director Matthew Robbins (*Batteries Not Included, and Mimic (Writer)). He knows how to deftly present the dragons to evoke the most menace and how to get the best performances from his actors without (for the most part) descending to cheesy melodrama as many lesser fantasy films do.

The acting in the film is solid. No one actor truly stands out. Peter MacNichol and Ralph Richardson, as Galen and the wizard Ulrich respectively, are excellent. Caitlin Clarke, as the love-interest, Valerian, has dialogue that seems a little stilted and can slip into melodrama, but she comes off okay as the snarky tomboy who wants to be a “real woman”. The soldier Tyrion, who is Galen’s human nemesis, is played by John Hallam, by turns sinister and charming. The king, Casiodorus Rex (Peter Eyre) is regal, yet repugnant. The weakest performance comes from Chloe Salaman. She plays the Princess Elspeth just a little too earnestly.

Even the dragon itself is a rich character. It is an ancient beast near the end of its days, struggling to survive and leave some sort of life to its children. There are scenes with the dragon that show its humanity and its anguish – and ultimately, its rage. It is not just a faceless beast to slay, but is a remnant of an older time struggling to stay alive and relevant.

One of my favorite things about this movie is the music by Alex North, who did the music for 2001, a Space Odyssey. It is bombastic and exciting without being melodramatic. It has a tinkling refrain that reflects the spark of magic; the fantastic.

Overall, this is a rare fantasy production in which the cast and crew poured their passion and their talent. It is the 1980’s equivalent of The Lord of the Rings in quality. Most other fantasy films either do not take their content seriously or are limited by budget and talent in acting or special effect. Dragonslayer is a film that still plays as well today as it did 32 years ago despite having only one or two actors known for anything but this film. Peter MacNichol has had a long career after this film (TV shows Chicago Hope, Ally MacBeal, and most recently, Agents of SHIELD) and this film was one of Ralph Richardson’s last films in a long, long career reaching back to 1933. If you love fantasy films and have not seen this movie, it is a “must-see”. It stands among the greats.

Overall Score: 9.5 out of 10