I liked it better than Part One, but I feel like Part One was their Phantom Menace. The thing is, this went on forever at times. The barrel scene even a bit cartoony was great. Loved the use of Sauron and the Eye in the wizard fight. The Smaug stuff was awesome, but again it felt like it was a lot of work for nothing. I still think doing this as a trilogy is a bad idea. I bought the love story which I didn't expect at all.
(edited by lotjx on 14.12.13 2211) The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
Saw it in HFR 48fps just like the first one. Liked it a whole lot more than the first movie. The camera pans are so smooth in 3D using HFR. Too bad I can't buy an HFR version for the home blu-ray 3D... I mean, they totally took the idea from the new TVs to make it look like fake home video footage. We saw a whole lot more of Smaug than I expected. Lee Pace is such a creepy dude as the Elf King.
Spoiler Below: Highlight text to read
Gee, I am guessing what's going to happen with Smaug with the one black arrow left, the weapon to shoot the black arrow at the Lake Town, and the ding Smaug has from the previous black arrow attack.
Loved it. From the first to last second. I only liked the first one, and am amongst those that thought it was flawed. I feared for the same thing here but it was one great adventure ride.
Of course, the ending is nothing but a huge cliff hanger. But wasn't that the same with the The Two Towers? We know it's the middle movie. What else can they do?
The 'love story' amused me. In fact, Tauriel was actually useful as a character, and as a result Legolas wasn't annoying as I feared either.
Smaug of course was awesome. And yes, certain events for the next one are telegraphed but *shrug* that isn't always a bad thing.
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