Looks to me like the first-person shots were done with some kind of action camera like a Go Pro. The shots were much more grainy. Other than that I thought the movie was great, pretty much all action with just a little story to slow it down every once in a while. :)

Saw it yesterday and that's Pretty much exactly why I thought(minus the part about Lily, though I can say I didn't dislike her as much as I thought I would)

I'm fine with it being one mans interpretation even if only to keep myself sane and keep the films enjoyable

I think it's a better movie than the first, but share similar complaints.

I haven't seen either movie at 48fps, so I do wonder what effect that would have on my perception of action scenes, like the barrel one.
Actually the barrel scene became just so ridiculous it looped around and became enjoyable.

Evangeline was both kind of unnecessary and yet kind of a highlight, but I think I could have done without that entire subplot.

The Mirkwood & Beorn scenes seemed a bit short considering their place in the book, but oh well.
Also, perhaps I'm misremembering, but Bilbo's violent spider scene because of the ring seemed a bit overly strong considering the metric of the ring's effects we saw in LotR.

I haven't felt that on the edge by a cliffhanger since Halo 2, and I know how The Hobbit is supposed to end. There's just so many dangling threads by the time the movie ends: Gandalf is still being held prisoner, Smaug is on his way to Laketown, and Legolas is still chasing down Bolg. I thought at the very least they'd wrap up Smaug's story. By itself, the movie feels very uncompleted.

I think An Unexpected Journey was better than Desolation of Smaug, but I'm not sure yet. I need to see it again.

Anyone else watch The Desolation of Smaug this weekend?

I thought the quick first-person shots during the barrel ride felt really out of place. I'm not sure about the added romance subplot, though any excuse to have Evangeline Lilly onscreen is okay with me. Half expected to hear Dream Weaver during one scene though.

Smaug was gorgeous! I was really impressed with the dragon's design and animation.

Pretty pleased overall. Granted, it's been ten years since I read the book, so I might not be the best judge of its worth as an adaptation.

FYI, I haven't read the book in a long, long time, so I'm viewing these movies as if I've never read it. The GF, on the other hand, was shaking her head at the liberties taken throughout the movie.

Overall, I was entertained by the movie and quite enjoyed it. However, the fight scenes' CGI was terrible. It looked cheap and outdated. I'm assuming this is because they were meant to be viewed in 3D and when viewed in 2D, they looked off. I'm the kind of guy who can suspend his disbelief easily, but the whole time they were fighting down the river I was like "That's fake. That's fake. The CGI looked better in the original trilogy!" BUT the Smaug CGI was excellent and makes me scratch my head at the aforementioned CGI.

For me (much like the first movie) the stuff with Bilbo and Smaug (or Golem) was the highlight of the movie. Smaug's CGI was really well done, and Cumberbatch did an excellent job. I'd watch it again just for those scenes. I didn't really get the Dwarf/Elf romance. Could've done without that.

And yeah, I groaned at the ending. I was looking for a controller to throw. LOL But with all that said, it was fun and I'll probably watch it again. I really liked the Smaug/Bilbo scenes.

- CC

Ok watched it last night,

here are some thoughts:

-My God that movie made 3 hours feel like 5 hours. The pacing made me keep thinking the movie was going to end, but kept going for another half movie. Felt long, but I liked it.

-Fight scenes were good, but turned into orc destruction overload. Are orcs even a problem when we can wipe them out so easily?

-Definitely didn't have as much structure going on as the first Hobbit film, seemed to throw you into whatever was going on. Which is fine for a middle film

-Love subplot didn't bother me, he was just working his dwarven moves on the sweet elf

-Smaug stole the show, Cumberbatch and Freeman work far too well together.

-Movie ended worse than Halo 2, but it had to end at some point. (Please see earlier comment for pacing)

Overall, I liked it alot, but I'm a sucker for Peter Jackson and his Tolkien adventures.

Thoroughly looking forward to it . And the real edition next November. :)

For The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition has been giving me and Maddie weeks of enjoyment lately - besides just the few new scenes adding quieter character moments (as well as more comedy and Middle-Earth songs), the weeks-worth of often-hilarious Appendices have truly enriched the experience. Besides growing respect for the actors, especially Richard Armitage who really knows his Tolkien lore, you get discussion on all the creative decisions, like how Jackson is purposefully making The Hobbit(s) more whimsical and 'painted' to both fit the source material and make the LOTR trilogy more grounded and serious by that contrast. And for the uninitiated, who often think Jackson's just throwing in random crap to his adaption, you get to see where these additions and changes came from - like scenes that weren't adapted in LOTR but not get the light of day, lore from the LOTR's appendices, and nods to the Silmarillion and even some of Tolkien's abandoned manuscripts (Gandalf not knowing the Blue Wizard's names for example).

The EE versions, especially at home, is where the original trilogy went from a fun action adventure movie to true moving epic for me. Sadly, hours and hours of content just doesn't work too well when you're stuck in theater. So really, this new trilogy doesn't end for me until something like Nov. 2015. Can't wait! :)

I liked the Halo 2 ending. That abrupt cut to credits thing. Man. :P

*Edited by Leviathan because your title was in fact a spoiler, and I personally would have been pissed if someone told me that before I saw it.