Continuing their journey, Gandalf (McKellen) heads off to confront the Necromancer (Cumberbatch) while Bilbo (Freeman) and his company of dwarves enter the creepy Mirkwood. Bilbo rescues the dwarves from giant spiders before they're captured by wood-elves led by the paranoid Thranduil (Pace) and his more adventurous son Legolas (Bloom). But Bilbo engineers an escape in wine barrels to Lake-town. Now chased by both orcs and elves, they get help from Bard (Evans) before launching their final assault on the dragon Smaug (also Cumberbatch), who has taken over the dwarves' treasure in the Lonely Mountain.

Without a proper narrative, this series of set-pieces develops various character plots, a few of which are bound to engage us. Bilbo's growing confidence is the film's heart, and it's played with terrific subtlety by Freeman, as are McKellen's scenes in which he confronts an evil darker than he expects. Around them, Thorin (Armitage) once again takes a lead role as the deposed dwarf king trying to restore his authority. And there's a tentative romantic subplot between feisty warrior elf Tauriel (Lilly) and cuter-than-average dwarf Kili (Turner), although the strained love-triangle with Legolas never gains traction.

As a collection of action sequences, the movie mimics the book's structure, following this band of travellers in their offbeat encounters along the road. Some of these skirmishes are staged with wit and energy, such as the manic escape from the elves, although the heavily animated footage continually rejects the laws of physics, which leaves several scenes looking about as realistic as a Road Runner cartoon.

On the other hand, Jackson is terrific at maintaining the dramatic flow from the first film, then ending on a cliffhanger that leaves us gasping for the next scene. He also cleverly blends production design, music, recurring characters and several quest subplots to tie this trilogy into The Lord of the Rings. It may feel far too intense and urgent for the lighthearted tone of Tolkien's novel, but it's exciting cinema.

themes, violence

9.Dec.13