Movie: The Hobbit- The Desolation of Smaug

My most anticipated movie of the year: The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug

The second installation of the three part movie series, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug picks up where the first part left off, and tells of their journey to The Lonely Mountain.

As usual of the whole LOTR empire, there are many stunning shots, which look even better in 3D. I love that it opens with prologue explaining how this quest began in the first place. It extends the story beyond simply a bunch of dwarves going on an impossible quest, I actually recognize being in the Middle Earth in this movie, as compared to their first one. 

As a fan myself, that was really important, because Middle Earth is like this parallel universe where I sometimes live at, and watching this movie and recognizing the characters and history reference makes the story comes alive. 

Erebor, or The Lonely Mountain, was such a glorious sight to behold! It is not only a place of dragon and treasures. It's a place of historical and cultural significance to the Dwarves of Durin's Folk. It's their pride and their home. (I wished they could have shown more of Mirkwood though. )

Of course, The Desolation of Smaug would not be complete without Smaug. (I still think it's a weird name for a dragon btw, sounds like the name for a conman or something) And of course, the fire-breathing dragon loves riddles. Next thing you know, it's gonna break into a song together with the Orcs and He Who Must Not Be Named oops wrong universe The One (a.k.a. Sauron)

As for the other characters, I am glad that the Company are given more attention so that their personalities are more than just "The Company", Huffington Post wrote about the dwarves earlier this year. 

Orlando Bloom is back as Legolas with his killer arrow-shooting skill. Seriously, if you paid enough attention, you can see Legolas shooting the Orcs who are standing like 5cm from him using arrows. Perhaps he receive star points with his Daddy King if he combo kill them. My roomie said that Orlando Bloom looks totally different from when he starred in the LOTR. What do you think? (Looks like normal aging to me.)

Ed Sheeran, one of my favourite artist currently, sings the OST for Desolation of Smaug. 

But honestly though, nothing beats The Lonely Mountain song from Unexpected Journey.