Continuation of the journey of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf and 13 brave dwarfs. Their company must get to the Lonely Mountain. And there they will face the greatest danger of all – a creature much more terrifying than all their past opponents, a monster that will test the strength not only of their courage, but the strength of their friendship and the correctness of the chosen path – the dragon Smaug.

4k movies reviews
So, I have developed a glorious tradition – for the second year now I have been going to Helsinki to watch The Hobbit in the original voice acting, as it comes out in this beautiful city a week earlier than in Russia.

I wrote an impossibly enthusiastic review last year, and I honestly planned to do it again. And again – next year. Now I am in some confusion. I am sitting on the train that will take me back to St. Petersburg in five minutes, and I think I would like to contribute to this review. So many things!

Firstly, I will immediately say that I liked the film. At the same time, I am at a loss and a little disappointed, and I cannot normally explain how these conflicting feelings coexist in me. The feeling that I watched the film is not the book that I read. We are all prepared for deviations in the plot, for new characters, but what I personally was not ready for was that so little of the original would remain! Surprisingly few. Unreasonably small.

And most importantly, I cannot understand why it was decided to do so. They say that the first film was boring and drawn-out, little action, little dynamics. Maybe. But the second is nothing but action. Action is everywhere. All calm scenes are turned into action, and I don’t think the end justifies the means. Moreover, the goal itself seems very far-fetched.

In fact, the film has a lot of good things, just the beginning of the review turned out to be very emotional for me – it often happens when expectations diverge from reality. And even screenplays and offshoots are not always bad – I want to say a big thank you for Dol Guldur. The necromancer showed himself just for a couple of seconds, but he was scary. I missed this power in the main villain of Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings – the Nazgóëûl were scarier than the Eye of Sauron. And here … I’m really looking forward to the development of this script line in the next part. Impatiently!

I was pleased to see Legolas – I forgive his drawn-out cameo – he is in his place and he is damn good on his own. And Tauriel is good. But the writers should have let them go a little earlier in the course of the film. My biggest disappointment in terms of acting is Bilbo. No, don’t you think, Martin Freeman is an absolutely wonderful actor. But he can do so much more! He did not have enough screen time, there were not enough scenes in which attention would be paid to him, he does not give the impression of the main character at all, he is somehow crushed, hidden in the background, and I am infinitely offended.

The gnomes are all the same colorful, my personal favorite is Balin, but the rest are not far behind – Thorin is still regal, Fili and Keely are still charming, several comic scenes fell to Bofur’s lot, in general, all those who did not have time to remember the gnomes on the first part, they will cope with this difficult task in this one. Newcomers delight – Thranduil is absolutely beautiful, to the creeps, I wanted more scenes with him. The bard performed by Luke Evans unexpectedly liked, I could not imagine him in this role. The burgomaster performed by Stephen Fry seems to have stepped out of the pages of a book, 100% hit. And of course Smog …

Smog deserves a separate paragraph. He is the best dragon in the history of cinema. He speaks in the insinuating voice of Benedict Cumberbatch (I hope the Russian voice acting will be decent), and he scares, he is … oh, he is perfect. A bit silly, perhaps, but we are all not without flaws. To all the people who created such a dragon – a deep bow. Although it will take almost two-thirds of the film before its first appearance – the wait is worth it. From the moment: when Smaug appears before the viewer in all its fieryness, the dynamics of the film grows almost exponentially, and by the very end the film does not hold out – it ends without stretching the highest note. The credits take you by surprise. And you suddenly realize that everything, everything, to continue waiting for another year! ..

So the verdict. All those who have not read the book will like this part much more than the first. The timing is completely invisible, your eyes will be glued to the screen until the credits. I even envy people: who have not read “The Hobbit” or remember it poorly – you are spared all the shortcomings of the film – for you everything should be in its place, whole and right. Well, everyone else, those who remember the contents of the book too well, will have to struggle a little with themselves to enjoy the film. Is it worth it or not – it’s up to you! I decided it was worth it. This is a good film, with beautiful landscapes, with favorite characters that you want to empathize with, with amazing special effects. Of course, this is a must see this year, but … For 10 out of 10, I have too many contradictions inside.

See the next part: The Hobbit The Battle of the Five Armies 4K 2014 EXTENDED

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles
English SDH, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Thai.