Sequel takes us on a wild adventure Trailer: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug The second part of Peter Jackson's trilogy of films adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece. PT2M28S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2ur90 620 349 October 2, 2013 41 votes Action/Adventure, Fantasy Peter Jackson Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Cate Blanchett It might seem overkill to adapt a 300-page book into a film trilogy likely to run eight or nine hours. But Peter Jackson's long-winded approach to storytelling is not untrue to the spirit of J.R.R. Tolkien, who spent decades working out the details of his fantasy realm of Middle-Earth. Jackson's second Lord of the Rings prequel spells out what Tolkien left mostly implicit: that the unassuming hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is not merely engaged in a simple quest for treasure, but occupies the centre of a more complex story that he barely begins to grasp. Brimming with action ... The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Much of the time Bilbo is little more than a bemused observer, tagging along with dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and his merry band. Still, Freeman - a dry, reactive British humorist who specialises in playing the Last Sane Man - is a far more likeable lead than the moist-eyed Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood. It helps that he's allowed to speak in a conversational tone, unlike most of the cast (as the sagacious wizard Gandalf, Ian McKellen remains as insufferably hammy as ever). Less bogged down in exposition than its predecessor The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug delivers the goods as a matinee adventure, with a series of special-effects set-pieces that are as fun to watch as they are technologically cutting-edge: an encounter with giant spiders; a riverside battle between orcs and elves; and the final showdown with the dragon Smaug, voiced with appropriate orotund menace by Benedict Cumberbatch. The dizzying multiplication of subplots and complications generates its own kind of pleasure, while enabling a fair amount of what the internet calls "fan service" - including a newly concocted romance between a warrior she-elf (Evangeline Lilly) and a youthfully handsome dwarf (Aidan Turner). For dramatic intensity, nothing here rivals the highlight of An Unexpected Journey: the riddle game between Bilbo and his cave-dwelling soul-brother Gollum (Andy Serkis). It is the best scene Tolkien ever wrote, and the only point in the book where we're confronted with the squirmy underside of a cheery and straightforward tale for children. But even when the narrative loses momentum, the film is enjoyable in the manner of an amusement park ride, using high-definition 3D to immerse us in the action, while the camera glides and swoops with an assurance that guarantees our safe passage through a menacing world.