The Desolation of the Hobbit?

I was finally able to watch The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, but I must say that this review has been very difficult to write.  As a Tolkien fan, I have to say this was a wretched adaptation in many ways.  As a fan of fun fantasy movies, this was one was great.

It's no secret that Peter Jackson had another character created for this movie and that character is the Elf captain Tauriel.  I could live with bringing back Legolas, since that was a plausible situation, but having this particular character as a part of the movie for a completely ridiculous plot?  That went too far.  I won't give it away if you haven't seen it, but suffice it to say, the entire run of Tauriel's plotline was idiotic - not to mention that she lacked quite a bit in acting skills.  They were trying to make certain that they had an Arwen-type character, even to the point of re-creating a scene from the Lord of the Rings.  It was painfully obvious and fell even more painfully short.

There were also quite a few scenes that were, shall we say, creatively elaborated upon.  Whether from the book The Hobbit or from the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings there was quite a bit of material with which Jackson took creative license.  Again, to avoid spoilers I won't go into detail, but parts with Gandalf and Radagast, and of course, the continuing presence of Azog the defiler made the movie a bit long and seemed to be forcing the connection between The Lord of the Rings movies and The Hobbit rather excessively.

But as I said, it was a very fun movie despite the issues with the conversion from book to movie.  I have never seen a better CGI dragon!  Smaug was utterly convincable and seemed just as alive as the characters acting opposite him.  Benedict Cumberbatch's voice was a perfect choice for that character!  As for the action sequences, and the expanded character of Bard, they were quite enjoyable.

In short, I would recommend seeing this movie and actually traveling to see it.  It's worth the effort.