When I first heard that they were making "The Hobbit" novel into a movie I wasn't that excited because to me "The Lord of The Rings" trilogy are three of the best movies ever made and I am sure that nothing will come close to them, and then I heard that they were making "The Hobbit" novel which is a small book into three movies I was even less excited, but off course being the movie lover that I am I went to see the first one in IMAX in December of 2012. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise, I loved the film and don't get me wrong this is in no way a comparison between it and LOTR but the movie has its own style and although it was a bit slow sometimes it still kept me interested.

This year I went to see the second installment "The Desolation of Smaug" and I was blown away. This movie is fast paced and full of very memorable action sequences. It starts off fast and doesn't stop, its very exciting to watch with amazing camera work and visual effects by the master of middle earth Peter Jackson.

This middle chapter is very well written and it surpasses the first installment because you feel that there is no dragging on in the story and everything is moving forward. 

The addition of new characters also helped the movie a lot because there were several story lines happening at the same time and you didn't feel that any of them was meaningless or boring. I especially enjoyed the scene with Gandalf and Suaron facing off. 

Smaug himself is a very interesting character, he is not your typical dragon and the dialogue between Smaug and Bilbo is brilliant showing just how J.R.R Tolkien is a master storyteller. Add to that one of the best endings of a movie that I have seen in a while and you will feel that "The Desolation of Smaug" is a powerful and well crafted installment in this journey back to middle earth, well done.

Rating: 8.5/10