Richard Auty’s review published on Letterboxd:
Tonally this is much less aligned to the novel than the first part.
Desolation of Smaug is what, 20 per cent Tolkein content? 30 percent? The Beorn section is one of my favourite passages in the whole book, but here the whole thing is cast aside in just a couple of minutes. I can understand why Peter Jackson didn't want to repeat the two-at-a-time Dwarf introductions that also feature at the beginning of The Hobbit, but even so I would have loved to have spent a little more time at Beorn's gaff.
When The Desolation of Smaug sticks closer to the source material it's pretty good - the Mirkwood sequence is well done and the resident spiders are effectively creepy - although it's not particularly well explained as to why Gandalf suddenly takes a leave of absence right before they enter the wood.
Although the barrel escape is hugely embellished from what happens in the novel, it is absolutely spectacular and by far the high point of the film. After that, things do start to lose steam a bit.
While I can understand why familiar characters from The Lord of the Rings were brought into this trilogy, some of it feels a bit shoehorned. And don't get me started on inter-species dwarf/elf romance. That's just stupid.
At the end of the day, it's a spectacular, entertaining movie with an enormous budget made by a hugely experienced cast and crew so was never going to be a failure, but for me it just felt one step too far away from the source material.
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_02bb6950-773e-42c3-945e-8933e3beb780" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-02bb6950-773e-42c3-945e-8933e3beb780'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-02bb6950-773e-42c3-945e-8933e3beb780'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-02bb6950-773e-42c3-945e-8933e3beb780'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_25c35296-8ad3-4eaf-a95e-ffd4c5edd8ab" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-25c35296-8ad3-4eaf-a95e-ffd4c5edd8ab'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-25c35296-8ad3-4eaf-a95e-ffd4c5edd8ab'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-25c35296-8ad3-4eaf-a95e-ffd4c5edd8ab'));
