Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" will be unleashed in wide release and is scoring better reviews than its predecessor.
The new film continues the story of the dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, as they continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring.
"The Desolation of Smaug" currently has a 71 percent aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes. Richard Corliss from Time Magazine put the film in his top 10 films of 2014 and wrote, "'The Desolation of Smaug' satisfies both as a Saturday-matinee serial and as a tempting fanfare for the climactic 'There and Back Again,' due next December."
Peter Howell from the Toronto Star also gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Jackson's audacity and folly both come to the fore in this picture, which is much more than a placeholder but something less than a fully satisfying saga in its own right."
Latinos Post also liked the film and called it "A Huge Improvement Over Its Predecessor"
However, a number of critics disliked the movie. Ben Sachs from the Chicago Reader wrote, "The chaotic action, amped-up sound effects, and needlessly intricate CGI landscapes (which are less convincing than traditional sets or even the hand-drawn backdrops of Disney classics) wore me out well before the movie was over."
Mike LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle said, "Tolkien is barely there, and Middle-earth lies in ruins."
The film stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, and Orlando Bloom. Warner Bros. will release the film in 3,903 theaters. The movie is rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images.