The Desolation of Smaug is definitely better then An Unexpected Journey. Not as good as any of the LOR films, but it is not because Jackson is a poor filmmaker. He just should not have dragged it out into three movies.
That aside, the pacing is pretty good, especially with the spiders. Laketown is a mixed bag, but not bad at all. The Smaug confrontation between Bilbo and the dragon is terrific. Afterwards is entertaining, but if Gollum was the best part of the first film, Smaug is the best part of the second.
You know when all three films are on video someone is going to edit the three films into one and make a masterpiece on YouTube.
(C) Copyright 2013 By Mark Rivera
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