The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug | 3.5/5

SINGAPORE — Fans can breathe a sigh of relief: There is nothing desolate about the second instalment of Peter Jackson’s three-part adaptation of J R R Tolkien’s beloved novel The Hobbit.

Thanks to the inclusion of fan fave actors and characters, nods to the Lord Of The Rings (LOTR) trilogy and some choice action set-pieces, The Desolation of Smaug is barrels more fun than the unexpectedly boring and long-drawn journey that was the first Hobbit film, An Unexpected Journey.

This is not to say that it signals a return to the brilliance of New Zealand film-maker’s critically adored and commercially successful LOTR trilogy from more than a decade ago But at least you’re not alternating between falling asleep and feeling nauseous from the dizzying 48 frames per second format.

It’s like Jackson finally realised he’s running out of time to tell the story. Picking up exactly from where the first instalment left off, he immediately jumps straight into action.

Titular hairy-footed Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) continues on his quest alongside gruff but loyal dwarves, led by the indomitable Thorin (Richard Armitage). Their destination is the Lonely Mountain, their purpose, to slay the seemingly indestructible dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) and reclaim the Dwarven homeland.

Of course the road to glory should always be paved with peril, so thrown into the mix are humungous giant spiders, an army of vicious orcs hot on their heels and a missing Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), who’s off on a secret mission of his own.

Freeman is, as ever, a spot-on hobbit and the first-class source of terrific reaction faces, while Armitage gets a chance to show some acting range as Thorin’s nobility starts to unravel, revealing more questionable motives.

It’s also nice to see the dwarves being a little less interchangeable here (most fat and short, some greedy, some brooding) and good-looking Kili (Aidan Turner) does look more like a short elf.

This, mind you, sets up Jackson’s love triangle as Kili competes with the ageless Legolas (Orlando Bloom) for the attentions of fighter elf Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly). This new elf character specifically created for the film will most likely cause a bit of a kerfuffle among Tolkient purists, but Tauriel’s girl power ninja moves and superb archery skills is undeniably a joy to watch in this male-dominated fantasy world. Throw in a dragon, whose look, feel and movement is finally worthy of all the advancements in CGI and movie magic technology, and even sceptics will be more than appeased.

Still, when he does it right, action sequences is what Jackson does best. And a downriver escape sequence — which sees our dwarves barrelling down rapids with orcs and elves leaping over their heads, shooting arrows and engaging in hand-to-hand combat — is well worth the cinema ticket price (aside, of course, from Cumberbatch’s gorgeous baritone as Smaug!).

Sure, all I was thinking about during the this sequence is how it would make a most awesome amazing theme park ride (minus a very nimble and acrobatic Orlando Bloom saving the day), but that is the power of an on-form Jackson, who reels me in and immerses me into such a wondrous world.

(PG13, 161 mins)