Arts Events: The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug

I recently went to Cineworld to view the recent addition to the hobbit trilogy which is the second one 'The hobbit The Desolation of Smaug' I was definitely excited about viewing this as i had been a massive fan of the previous trilogy Lord of The rings which was also directed by Peter Jackson. I also really enjoyed the first hobbit film 'The hobbit an unexpected journey'. This meant I did go into the cinema with really high expectations which can be horrible as it usually leads to disappointment as the film hadn't reached your incredibly high standards. This however was not the case when I saw The desolation of Smaug... I wouldn't go as far as to say it exceeded my expectations but it definitely met them. It was a very entertaining film, It kept my attention and interest the whole way through, what more could I want? well it is hard to explain but i still left the cinema slightly unfulfilled. I can't precisely say why, maybe it is because The hobbit trilogy just lacks the grittiness that lord of the rings has. They changed the fps of the filming for the hobbit to 48fps... this is extremely high, it gave it a crisp picture however it somehow made it feel serial and unrealistic. It had glamorised it, I loved lord of the rings largely because it just told me the story and showed it in a brutal not Hollywood like style. It almost feels as though The hobbit is too hollywoodie and has lost sight on what people really loved about Lord of the rings. That being said it is hard to be to angry as I did really enjoy the experience. I watched it with my dad and he too feels the exact same as me! The desolation of Smaug did do alot of things right and although in my mind i focus on the negatives it is easy to forget some truly amazing pieces of film. Like in when Bilbo does actually interact with and speak to Smaug I think it is very cleverly filmed and scripted and as an audience member it really did create a great deal of tension and I have no doubt this was Peter Jacksons goal when he shot this. I do have huge amounts of respect for Peter Jackson, turning the lord of the rings books into a film was a very challenging task. It was a massive project that most directors would shy away from but he faced it head on. Allin all I would say pretty much everyone would enjoy the hobbit films, but if you do constantly compare them to the previous Lord of the rings trilogy, it is hard not to feel some level of disappointment.