The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: December 13, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 44 Critic Reviews
Positive:
29
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
EmpireNick de SemlyenDec 6, 2013
Middle-earth's got its mojo back. A huge improvement on the previous installment, this takes our adventurers into uncharted territory and delivers spectacle by the ton. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanDec 11, 2013
Bilbo, as played by Freeman, suggests a sly-dog Dana Carvey without irony, and he is certainly overmatched, but that doesn't mean he's outplayed. Desolation is now his business. Read full review
90
TimeRichard CorlissDec 9, 2013
Smaug is different: a really good movie, superior to the first in that it brings its characters to rambunctious life. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyDec 13, 2013
The thematic elements are in place, the emotional tension is highly strung, and the action unfolds in a wave like the fire erupting from the dragon's mouth, overtaking all in its path. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerDec 13, 2013
Most middle movies in a trilogy simply mark time. Not this one. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirDec 12, 2013
This is a rip-snorting, barrel-riding adventure movie — perfect for all ages, as they say (though it isn’t for very young kids) — loaded with fast-paced fight scenes, great-looking effects and enjoyable and/or scurrilous supporting characters. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith UhlichDec 10, 2013
By the time the beast spreads his wings to full span, soaring skyward toward a vaguely Spielbergian moon, you’re in the kind of breathless awe that so few current cinematic superproductions are able to provide. Read full review
80
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlDec 9, 2013
Sure, all the studios offer anymore are big, dumb adventure spectacles, but that's not a knock against the achievement of this one, which at least parades wonders before us, not the least being the greatest dragon in the history of movies. Read full review
80
Total FilmMatt MaytumDec 8, 2013
Despite suffering from middle-act wobbles, The Desolation Of Smaug nevertheless delivers rousing action, incredible visuals and one stupendous dragon. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 6, 2013
The Desolation of Smaug is a cheerfully entertaining and exhilarating adventure tale, a supercharged Saturday morning picture: it's mysterious and strange and yet Jackson also effortlessly conjures up that genial quality that distinguishes The Hobbit from the more solemn Rings stories. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovDec 11, 2013
The Desolation of Smaug is, on the whole, a vast improvement over The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It’s a popcorn movie (in the best sense) disguised as deep-core nerdism. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyDec 12, 2013
The best of The Desolation of Smaug is saved for the last, when Bilbo goes to steal from the massive fire-breathing dragon, Smaug. The orange-eyed beast is voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, who, through a sludge of voice-altering electronics, seethes and preens between fiery exhalations; this scene is one of the few occasions in the film where anyone actually takes time to talk. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 12, 2013
Second verse, same as the first, a little bit shorter and a little less worse. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanDec 12, 2013
That dragon represents the best and worst things about the film. He’s terrifying yet slightly droll. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsDec 12, 2013
At its best, Hobbit 2, which carries the subtitle The Desolation of Smaug, invites comparisons to Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" threesome. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesColette BancroftDec 12, 2013
Never mind the dwarves and elves and wizards — maybe even the hobbit. The star of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the dragon. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanDec 12, 2013
The second part of Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” trilogy goes a long way — and at 2 1/2 hours, I do mean long — toward righting the wrongs of the first movie, which was even longer. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperDec 12, 2013
Even though “Smaug” moves at a faster pace than the first part of the journey, it feels overlong. I still feel this whole Hobbit tale could have been told in one great, three-hour movie. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreDec 10, 2013
Look for Jackson’s cameo in the opening, which sets the tone. Call it another visual triumph for New Zealand’s vision of Middle Earth. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 12, 2013
My advice to "Hobbit" fans is not only to see this one, but to see it as I did, in 3-D projected at the normal rate of 24 frames per second. The film will also be shown in what's called High Frame Rate 3-D, at 48 frames a second, but that made the last installment look more like video than a regular movie. Smaug is scary enough without a turbo boost. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelDec 11, 2013
For fantasy fans who have dreamed all their lives of spending time inside Tolkien’s dazzling alternative reality, it’s a ride well worth taking. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyDec 11, 2013
Jackson's latest go at Tolkien's treasured "Hobbit" story gets closer to that rich alchemy of fantasy, adventure, imagination and emotion that made his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy such a triumph. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyDec 6, 2013
After exhibiting an almost craven fidelity to his source material the first time out, Jackson gets the drama in gear here from the outset with a sense of storytelling that possesses palpable energy and purpose. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangDec 6, 2013
This robust, action-packed adventure benefits from a headier sense of forward momentum and a steady stream of 3D-enhanced thrills. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianMarc MohanDec 12, 2013
Some of the dwarves have nice individual moments, namely Balin (Ken Stott), Bofur (James Nesbitt), and Kili (Aidan Turner), and Gandalf gets to throw some potent magic around at Dol Guldur. But other than that (and the dragon itself), The Desolation of Smaug turns to be more of too much of a good thing. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Dec 11, 2013
This Hobbit is, in other words, a much more eventful affair than its year-old predecessor. And yet for all the fine spectacle Jackson crams into his lengthy sequel-within-a-prequel, it’s still hard not to mourn the single, self-contained movie that could have been. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaDec 12, 2013
Not only eight minutes shorter than its forebear, it's at least eight minutes better - less twee, less chatty, more action, more Elvish. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 12, 2013
But, oh, that dragon. I'd endure another slog through Middle-Earth just to spend more time with Smaug. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 11, 2013
There are things to like about the second Hobbit film - the director's vision of Middle Earth is as beguiling as ever - but the bloating that was a problem with An Unexpected Journey is an even bigger issue here. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottDec 13, 2013
Visually stunning. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 12, 2013
There are, once again, too many busy, uninterestingly staged battles that lean heavily on obvious, sometimes distracting digital sorcery. But there are also pacific, brooding interludes in which the actors — notably Mr. Freeman, an intensely appealing screen presence — remind you that there’s more to Middle-earth than clamor and struggle. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriDec 12, 2013
Much of the bloat is still there, but The Desolation of Smaug, the second film in the Hobbit trilogy, is a real improvement – filled with inventive action set pieces and dramatic face-offs that we (finally, at long last, hallelujah!) care about. Read full review
60
The DissolveTasha RobinsonDec 11, 2013
It’s hard to fight the feeling that The Hobbit simply isn’t an epic story, and the efforts to expand it into one leave it feeling like an anvil crammed into a sock: The sock is taking on some weird shapes, and it’s being stretched awfully thin. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanDec 11, 2013
The cast, including Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly as warrior elves, is also excellent (though we don’t get even a glimpse of Andy Serkis’ Gollum). And individually, each escapade does hold its own thrills. Read full review
60
Film.comEric D. SniderDec 10, 2013
It’s merely somewhat better than last year’s meandering dud — a slight improvement on a movie that should have been pretty easy to improve upon. Read full review
55
NPRIan BuckwalterDec 13, 2013
This all essentially serves to distract from the fact that all that really happens in the film is that the company manages to eventually reach the mountain. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigDec 13, 2013
When it's not stalled on silly, it falls into slog territory. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsDec 12, 2013
We were promised desolation, but “The Hobbit” just keeps dragon on. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezDec 12, 2013
Jackson has become too distracted by his digital toys to give his characters the same weight and importance he used in the Rings trilogy. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundDec 7, 2013
A once-precious franchise's weakest installment, which forgets these adventures' magic was never conjured by bells and whistles. Read full review
50
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezDec 6, 2013
The Peter Jackson-directed Hobbit sequel might be the more vigorous, action-packed, darker and more (superficially) engaging version of the series thus far, but that doesn’t actually mean it’s a keeper of any sort. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinDec 12, 2013
The second leg of Peter Jackson’s three-part adaptation of The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien, is mostly stalling for time: two or three truly great sequences tangled up in long beards and longer pit-stops. Read full review
38
New York PostLou LumenickDec 11, 2013
There are probably enough moments to satisfy hard-core fans, but for the rest of us, this amounts to the Middle Earth equivalent of “Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones,’’ a space-holding, empty-headed epic filled with characters and places (digital and otherwise) that are hard to keep straight, much less care about. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleDec 12, 2013
Results are all that matter, and the result here is that The Desolation of Smaug fails in almost every way, as a story, as an adventure, as a piece of art direction and as a visual spectacle. Read full review
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