The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Photo of Blu-ray cover taken by Kate Dorsey

     Oh, my goodness. The extended edition of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is incredibly long. I started to wonder if it was every going to end. All the additional parts lengthen this movie a lot. There are full additional storylines; which definitely make this film something I have never seen before.

    The beginning of The Desolation of Smaug has a completely new segment and story. There were always the scenes of the dwarves battling the orcs at the time when the dwarves lost everything. Only now, with the extended edition, we have Thorin Oakenshield II (Richard Armitage) watching longer as his grandfather, Thrór (Jeffrey Thomas), is beheaded by an orc.

    We also get to meet Thorin’s father, Thrain (Antony Sher), who I don’t think is seen in any of the three movies before the extended editions. This time, we see Thrain talk to his son before leaving the battle. After that, he simply disappears. Everyone thinks he is dead, expect Thorin. He is not so sure. Walking through the fallen after the battle, he is unable to find his father, making him think Thrain may still be alive.

    All this Thorin relates to the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen). In return, Gandalf reveals Thrain may have had a ring that makes people invisible and go crazy.

    This conversation between Thorin and Gandalf happens in the past. Moving to the present time, Thorin, his troop of dwarves, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), and Gandalf are on their way to reclaim the dwarves’ home in the Lonely Mountain. One the way, they seek refuge with Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt), a man who can turn into a bear. They need his help to get to the mountain and away from the orcs after them.  But there is one hitch. Beorn hates dwarves. Thankfully, he hates orcs more.

    With horses from Beorn, the troop rides away until they reach a forest. At this point, Gandalf senses he is needed somewhere else. Where or what the someplace is, I have never understood.

    Before Gandalf leaves, he warns the remaining troop members about the forest. Depending on what they do and what they touch, the forest can harm their mind.

    The forest rattles the dwarves, but Bilbo remains mostly with his senses. This only helps Bilbo so far, as he is captured and wrapped up by spiders like the others. All of them are set to be lunch. It is only with the help of elves that the troop is able to escape the forest alive ... and are thrown immediately into prison.

    Everyone except Bilbo. While escaping the spiders, Bilbo puts on his ring which makes him invisible. He follows the dwarves, now captured by the elves, and barely makes it inside the elves’ palace doors.

    For a while Bilbo remains invisible. All dwarves, expect for Thorin, are put into cells. Thorin is taken to meet King Thranduil (Lee Pace); an elf Thorin has a bad history with. Because it is Thranduil who refused to help the dwarves in their hour of need. Now Thranduil is demanding Thorin return something to him from the Lonely Mountain. It is the only way he will let the dwarves go. Otherwise, they will be imprisoned forever.

    Thorin opts for prison.

    After his not-so-pleasant conversation with Thranduil, Thorin is put into a cell of his own. The outlook is grim, but Thorin remembers there is one more possible way for them to be set free.

    That possibility is Bilbo. He is working his way around the prison waiting for just the distraction he needs. The guards give themselves a distraction, as they become more focused on their drink than the keys to the cells. Bilbo is able to take the keys and free the dwarves. Not an easy feat since they decided to cheer on the sight of Bilbo, which could have alerted the guards.

    With the guards continuing to be occupied, the troop escapes the palace in barrels. It is an escape quickly discovered, and they are chased by the elves Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom).

    During the chase, orcs arrive. The dwarves and elves are forced to fight together for a short time. In the process, the dwarves are able to escape further down the river. The dwarves gone, Tauriel and Legolas take a captured orc back to the palace for information.

    Thranduil questions the orc before killing him, despite claims he will free the orc. Based on what he has heard, Thranduil declares all the gates to be closed in order to keep those in his kingdom safe. Legolas tells the guards the ruling and discovers Tauriel is outside the gates. Unwilling to have his friend locked out, Legolas leaves the palace to find her.

***

    The dwarves and Bilbo are only able to travel so far before they realize they need help again to get to the Lonely Mountain. They also need help because Thorin’s nephew, Kili (Aidan Turner), was injured in the orc attack. With no one else around, they must ask the only person they encounter, a man named Bard (Luke Evans). A man who helps them rather reluctantly.

    Bard manages to sneak the dwarves and Bilbo into his village. From there the mountain can be seen. The dwarves are very close, but the village is overseen by the Master of Lake-town (Stephen Fry). He does not like Bard and has his men keep an eye on him. The dislike (actually fear) of Bard goes so far, he “finds” ancient laws to keep Bard from doing or saying anything that might challenge his power, rigging the system for himself (hmm, I think there are some politicians and judges out there who do the same thing).

    The Master does this with the help of his right-hand man Alfrid (Ryan Gage). A man far too full of his own sense of power, Alfrid is the one who will get right into Bard’s face and threaten him, never remembering Bard can outsmart him at every turn. Alfrid is also the one who writes the ancient laws so newly discovered.             

    When Bard agreed to sneak in the dwarves, part of the agreement was the money the dwarves gave would also cover weapons. Bard has limited access to weapons, thanks to the Master who fears an uprising against him (as he should). What he is able to offer does not please the dwarves at all. When Bard is away, they sneak out of his house and go to the armory to steal what weapons they want.  

    Of course, they all get in trouble. To get themselves out of the trouble, Thorin promises gold for the village if they are helped to the mountain. The Master, always wanting more gold, agrees. Bilbo and most of the dwarves (some stay behind for different reasons) sail off to the Lonely Mountain.

The Easy Way Up
Artwork by Kate Dorsey

    During all this, Gandalf is on his own journey. One which has him finding Thorin’s father, Thrain.

    Thrain has lost his mind. When Gandalf finds him, he is able to restore Thrain’s sanity. It is this sanity that makes Thrain worry about his son going to the mountain. He tells Gandalf Thorin cannot go there. The consequences will be bad if he does. But Thrain is too late.

    By this time, Thorin has already reached and entered the mountain. Bilbo is on his way to face Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch), the dragon who has the much-coveted Arkenstone.  Something Thorin wants badly.

    Smaug does not want to give up the Arkenstone, or any of his treasure. What he does want to do is wreak havoc on the dwarves now they have returned. He fights with the dwarves then breaks out of the mountain. His destination, Laketown. Which he intends to burn to the ground.

***

    I’ve said this before, but I must repeat, I cannot believe how long this extended edition was. It was fascinating to have the extra bits and storylines, but they added a lot of time.

    I’m wondering, though, now I have seen this once, if the next time I watch it won’t seem so long. Maybe it will feel faster because I’ll know what to expect. Many of the parts changed the story I thought I knew in ways I didn’t expect. It makes me very curious about what is going to happen in The Battle of the Five Armies.