After a singularly slow start to the series and despite the fact that I still can’t quite engage with Martin Freeman’s title character, I reckon that this is the best of the trilogy with some superb visual effects underpinned by a solid and characterful story right from the start. With the marauding “Smaug” breathing fire all over the town, it falls to “Bard” (Luke Evans) to try to save the day. Meantime, “Bilbo” (Freeman) is having to contend with the increasingly megalomaniacal dwarf king “Thorin” (Richard Armitage) who is suffering from a golden equivalent of snow-blindness that is testing the loyalties of his friends and allies alike, risking conflict with the now seriously narked Elven army of “Thranduil” (Lee Pace). With battle lines drawn, a siege looks inevitable and with dwarves and elves at loggerheads there could be only one, sinister and malevolent, winner waiting in the wings. This story is now taking us closer to the realms of the LOTR stories and the overlapping storylines help put much more meat on the bones of many of the characters - a benefit of doing the second story before the first, cinematically. There’s still no getting away from the fact the some of the acting talent here is at best a bit lacklustre and at times the likes of Aidan Turner and Messrs. Freeman, Armitage and Evans make even Orli Bloom look like a potential BAFTA winner. Luckily, though, there are the sonorous dulcets of the imposing Sir Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett and Sir Christopher Lee to add some gravitas to the stunning photography and effects that complement well the fire-breathing dragon, the swordplay, the building sense of malevolence and mistrust and, of course, the formidable battle scenes with just about everyone from Middle Earth fighting for survival or domination. It’s probably the only one of the triptych that hits the ground running and effortlessly sustains it’s lengthy duration and if you can settle down to watch it on a big screen that does justice to the imagery and to Howard Shore’s musical imagination then this is well worth it.
