Cinepals - THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Movie Reaction & Review!

Episode Date: January 8, 2025

Achara and Kristen return to Middle Earth for the second installment in The Hobbit series, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug! A brave company of dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield and aided by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, journeys to reclaim their homeland, facing treacherous foes and the wrath of the fearsome dragon Smaug. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was directed by Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, King Kong, Heavenly Creatures). The main cast includes Martin Freeman (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Sherlock, Fargo) as Bilbo Baggins, Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, X-Men, Gods and Monsters) as Gandalf, Richard Armitage (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, North & South, Captain America: The First Avenger) as Thorin Oakenshield, Evangeline Lilly (Lost, Ant-Man, The Hurt Locker) as Tauriel, Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy, Pushing Daisies, The Fall) as Thranduil, and Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange, Sherlock, The Imitation Game) as the voice of Smaug. SOCIAL MEDIA ~KRISTEN STEPHENSONPINO~ Instagram: @Kris10Kesp ~ACHARA KIRK~ Instagram: @AcharaKirk ~CINEPALS~ YouTube: @CinePals Insta: https://instagram.com/TheCinePals Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCinePals

Sinha. What's up, everyone? Welcome back. It's a Chara Kirk joint, but Kristen, Steffinson, Pito. Sop. And we are back in Middle Earth. This time we're watching the second movie in the Hobbit trilogy, The Desolation of Smorg.

Now, I know that in the movie, they say Smog, which I thought was weird. Is it Smog or is it Smog? Sound off in the comments below. Potato, potato, tomato, tomato. are watching the extended edition. If you want to watch along with us, you know what to do. Otherwise, let's jump into the reaction.

Here we go. What have we done? What have you done? Is that the end of the movie? No. No! Dang. I do you see what happens next.

There's one more movie. Can you believe it? no but I'm glad it's not going to just end like that I know holy cow it literally just ends in the middle I feel like at least for like the Lord of the Rings trilogy even though like all three of those feel like one big story each installment ends like nicely you know what I mean like there's there's a little bit of hope but the stakes are really high and then you're like oh wow that felt complete but I'm looking forward to the final part, whereas this is very much feels like, we just ended in the middle of it. Yeah, and you're like, you get kind of irritated. Like, really? What? Anyway.

Hold on. How did you feel about this one? I like it. I'm still enjoying myself. I'm just waiting to see how Gandalf gets off, gets out of the situation. It's either a going to be the wizard, the brown wizard, or it's going to be the elf, the white elf where she, you know, she did give him a favor and said, if you need me, I will be there.

and when they were all on the side of the cliff and climbing up in the trees and all that stuff before the Eagles came to save them. Right. I thought that's when he was going to call it in. But now I'm like, hmm, so I'm just waiting for him to call that favorite in. Legless, cool as hell.

I love the barrel scene. Yeah, the barrel. I think that was just so funny. It was really enjoyed it. Really thrilling as well, like to watch them, like, escape. that the one thing that I was a little bit like just kind of confused by the choice of just I guess camera or camera angle where there was like it looks like it was in the water but it kind of the quality of the footage just looked so jarringly different from the rest like it

literally looked like maybe he put a GoPro inside the water and was like let's go and I mean I appreciate the ingenuity and I understand that at the time this came out which was what like 2013 maybe that was like the first time that that we'd been able to use a camera like that and to have it actually be in the water so it was quite exciting but like it was jarring to look at and be like why does that look different like it looks like a home video in in a movie but you know like you've got to try new things right and and like it's exciting. when the tech is finally there that you can do something that maybe hasn't been done before. I actually enjoyed this more than I was expecting to.

Like this whole series so far, I'm like, I'm liking it more than I thought. Okay. I would. I think. Well, you had different expectations going into it, right? Yeah. I mean, I still feel like it's long. I felt like, I really felt like they were trying to stretch out the story as much as possible.

And there were certainly moments throughout where I'm like, could we not have like progressed the story a little bit more rather than spending so much time in like particular places or like so much time in like just having the dragon chase them? It's like, it was a lot. I think the dragon part was like a little bit of a lot. But at the same time, I'm actually really enjoying this one because I'm enjoying going to all these different locations. Every time we get a new location, I'm super excited about it. And I feel like I'm legit on this journey going, wow. Oh. Yeah.

Wow. Like, and I don't know. I'm enjoyed it, but there are some scenes that I do feel are kind of, they linger a little too long. Yeah. So I do agree with that. I'm also, I'm really enjoying Toriel, the she elf. Yes.

Our badass elf girl. And I don't remember the book very well, but I don't, I don't remember having like a badass lady elf kicking ass. And so I need to find out. Hold on. I'm going to ask the internet. I'm going to ask the internet. I like that. In.

Huh? What's the character's name? Toriel. Is Toriel in the book? The Hobbit book. No. No, she's not. She's not.

Good memory, Achara. I just, I just. I just feel like as I mean, I don't remember the story very well, obviously, but she's a fictional. I just feel like as a young girl, if I had read about like a really cool female elf, like I remember all the girl elves, like Galadriel, Arwin, awesome, love them. If I had read about Toriel and if she had been as badass as she is in the movie, I would have been like, yes, she's my queen, you know.

She's pretty cool. But I don't mind her being in the movie because I think she's really, really badass. I enjoy watching her. I feel like, you know, we go back from the first one, the first film of The Hobbit. You have that scene where we're in Elf territory and he's admiring them, right? And they're all kind of like, all the dwarfs are like, oh, they're ugly creatures. And he's like, yeah, yeah, totally ugly. But you can tell he's just totally into elves.

Yeah. And so I like that this one, she kind of gives, we have a gorgeous elf. elf who's giving him the time of day. Yeah. And you kind of have like Legolas who we absolutely love and adore from Lord of the Rings in love with her. So it's like that I am, it's, it's almost like that. Love triangle thing going on.

Yeah. And I'm interested to see how that's going to pan out. Yeah. I'm also, the one thing that I will say as much as I love Toriel and I think she's fantastic and like you have been enjoying this like little love triangle that's that's been happening. And also, like, the budding romance that is clearly growing between Keeley and Toriel, I kind of feel like, while I love that she's so badass, in some regards, I feel like she's too badass. Like, like, I also love Legolas.

Yeah. And so. But, like, don't double cross him. But, like, yeah, you cannot be cooler than Legerast. I feel that. You know what I mean? that, but I almost feel like he's just giving it to her, you know, he's so in love with her that, you know, like he might be simping a little. Yeah, I don't know. I feel that. I thought that

too while I was watching this. I was like, you can't up, you can't outdo him or up like. Yeah. Up to him. Yeah. Because like there were certain moments where I was like, oh my God, she's so bad. Is she wore badass and lick the last? Like, is this allowed? I thought that for a second two and I was like, nah. No, never. We can't do that. No. But if this is a that hardcore. love triangle how funny is it that legless loses the love of his life to a dwarf yeah later our best friend becomes a dwarf and it's like yo you get it i know but that would that would also give him even more reason to dislike dwarves because he's like dang you know i lost i lost my girl to a dwarf but at the same time it's like he becomes best friends right in lord of the rings

yeah and then it's kind of cool because he just realizes dwarves are cool as he like they're just funny yeah they're great and they're so brave he finds his own little buddy buddy bf yeah and that was a cute a cute little like uh i don't know what it is like a a callback i suppose to the lord of the rings when when they see the picture of i like that family and it's like oh that's my son gimley it's like yay we're going to be basties yeah gimbly's dad's in this that's kind of funny like let's fought with his dad yeah it's so cute it is cute what how do you feel about the king the thorin oaken shield yeah i don't know how i feel about him as a key like as a character personally per se like i want to like him but i'm not sure if i like him

like he's all right you know what i mean yeah yeah he's all right but i'm not necessarily in love with him like he's not my favorite character um i think it's like it's complicated because he's kind of like on the one hand there are moments there are moments where he seems to be very honorable, but then there are other moments. And maybe it is like the dragon is saying where he's being influenced by the gold or like Balin said,

like, you know, the treasure caused a madness in your grandfather. And so maybe the closer he gets to it, he's becoming more affected by it because I am noticing that his behavior is changing. Yes, I definitely think he's affected by it. But I feel like even in the first one, he was not my favorite either. Like he's consistently not necessarily like my fave,

but obviously I want him to win. I think it's sometimes when characters are like supposed to be like royal and regal, it kind of almost limits the scope of their likeability sometimes. Like it's so much easier to like a sweet character like Bilbo or like a funny, a funny dwarf who kind of does silly things. when you have a guy who's just like always serious and doing the right thing maybe he's not as easy to love as as some other characters. But we also have our king in Lord of the Rings, right? Aragorn? Yes. Yeah. And he like I loved him. Yeah. Loved him and he had that same kind of edge

about him, but there was still something that was lovable and respectable about him. Because he had But he has humility. Yes, where I feel like this one, I mean, maybe you know what it is. He's staying true to the Dorf ways, maybe. Yeah. And also he's just extra like serious. Yeah. Which is like, I don't know.

Like I was thinking that by now he would, I would have been like, okay, I like you more than I thought I would be a deal. But I don't. I mean, I still enjoy watching him and his character. don't get me wrong yeah i enjoy it but i just think it's interesting how i'm like i still don't really like you that much like you're cool but like are you cool because yeah yeah even now i don't know i mean we've got we've got one more movie to kind of have him maybe turn around for you ballin yeah love him he's so sweet he is so oh my god there's something about him that he's just like you feel that authentic OG yeah in the in the storyline where you're like

thank you he is the glue he is our rock he is the one that keeps our king sane but he protects us but he's also very knowledgeable yes and like he's like the old old wise guy yeah who like he's seen things yeah he he knows he knows a thing or two and he's still tough though yeah like he's still tough but he's also like all right I'm you guys I've been around the right I'm like let's like he's almost like that the sound of reason like let's we're all high heads here calm down yeah he's like oh I'm good yeah just chill I'm chill I'm chill although I will say like bomber I enjoyed a lot as well because this one I enjoyed him yeah he was great just like the funny the funny little detail of him just like passing everybody so fast that was my favorite honestly

yeah that was so good I liked when Legolas started to stepping on all their heads. I kept thinking about was that game where you like hit the, like the the whackamole. Yeah. Oh my gosh. When he started doing that, I was like, the disrespect, man. Yeah. Disrespect.

And I couldn't help but love it because it's like you're helping them, but you're like, I don't really like you guys. Step on your head, yeah. And the fight scenes as well were really creative, especially with Toriel and Legolas.

like the movement and everything. Like, it's so cool to watch because I think you would imagine that an elf would be that nimble and would be that cool as, as they're like just demolishing their enemies. And speaking of, this was, I felt like it was more violent than the first one. We lost a lot of heads on this one. We really did. This is like all about, I feel like their fight scenes and their war is all. lot more intense, like in Grody, than Lord of the Rings. Yeah.

It's a lot more like, I mean, it's definitely, you know, like as, as we go along with time, you know, fight choreography becomes better. The way we shoot it becomes better. Chopping their heads off is better for Charra. No, I'm talking about the choreography and all that. I'm just joking. But, like, you know, you're able to do these things also with the CGI, which like, like, kind of have mixed feelings about like this because there's too much yeah like I think for

for me like I'm sure a lot of people will probably agree but like Lord of the Rings is top tier yes and I think a lot of that has to do with just how practical everything is like you're you're seeing them out there in the world and like you did see a lot of this you know you see middle earth and like the exterior wide shots and stuff and it's amazing but also the orcs are all they're all real people in in makeup and costumes whereas this I was like this all looks like computer generated they got they had a little bit too much fun with it yeah it was like there was something cool about just watching like a bunch of of like physical beings out there whereas here it's like a lot of the fights with the orcs were just like it's just uh orlando bloom out there just like

i felt that i felt that yeah and so while while the movement and stuff was really cool and like the ideas behind it were really cool it kind of lacked the sense of realism i suppose that comes from using like real actors however i understand that it's a lot more i was going to say cheaper but yeah just it's cheaper to use cg i rather than to hire people and yeah there's like the scene with the the human king oh i'm like why are you guys doing this to me like everything like when he started chewing on that whatever that was i can't remember what he said it was oh it was a testicle bollocks yeah it was a testicle did yeah does that make it worse yeah that's why i was like. I didn't catch that. Yeah. He's popping testicles. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, ew.

Got little babies in there. Gross. So gross. But I mean, it is kind of similar to the steward of Gondor, right? In the Lord of the Rings where he also was like eating really just nastily. And, you know, you get a real sense of like the type of person that he is and like he's just so vile. You got to make them extra gross. Although it was fun to see Stephen Fry in that role. I mean, I don't know. Maybe for you, it's less of a big deal. But like Stephen Fry is a national treasure in the UK. Oh, yeah.

And so seeing him in this role, I was like, oh, I'm just so happy to see him, but also like, ew. Yeah, phenomenally nasty job, my man. He really did. Yeah. I'm going through the Harry. Potter audio books right now and the ones that he narrated and like I love it. I just love listening to his voice. It's great. He's so good. Anyway, that's a completely different IP. But yeah, anyway, yeah, this was, this was cool. I am looking forward to the next one and seeing how it ends.

And like, how long is it? They have really stretched out this story. If it's like three hours, it will have been nine hours. The Battle of the Five Armies, how long? Three hours. No, two hours. Two hours and 24. Okay, they couldn't stretch it out that long. They ran out of story. That's what happened. They ran out of story.

Do we add more than what's in the book or do we stick with this? I like that Bilbo doesn't disclaim that he has, what is it, the oral? The Arcanstone. Yes. I like that he could see that the king's like kind of losing his mind a little bit and like things didn't seem right. but also with what the dragon has said, you know, I like that he held back. Yeah.

And wasn't just like so naive as he has been from the beginning and just so willingly. Yeah. Giving things over, you know? I like that he kind of learned. But let me wade this out and make sure things are good. He has learned and come a long way. He's had like several of his skills, man. He's been like on top of it.

He's been a badass. He's been a super badass. he's like you know you think about our other hobbits yeah they have not killed as many people no as bilbo billbo has gone half he really has he went balls to the walls like none of our other hobbits have come close to even anything like that yeah like he's fully embracing yes this lifestyle yes he's doing a really great job as well like i love his facial expressions man they kill me i know They're so good. He's such a great pick for this, Martin Freeman.

Like, he's so, he's so, like, understated with it. And just his look of, like, oh, shit, not again. You know, like, that kind of look is, is perfect for this role. And he's just such a treat to watch. I love all his movements. Like, even, like, I don't know if you notice, like, he does things with his hand. Yeah. And I'm like, do you yourself?

I'm like, I don't know. Every time he comes on screen, I'm looking at from head to toe, the way he moves. the way he acts and speaks, breathes, and I'm loving it. Yeah. I love the way his nose moves, his mouth, like, and it's funny because I'm really paying attention to it, because I'm authentically enjoying everything he's doing. Yeah. He's doing, like, the best of the best.

He's so, he's so awesome. And, like, character-wise, he's killing it as well. Because, like, he really is that guy who is unexpected, you know, because he's so awesome. Maybe he might not be the best fighter, but he certainly is trying. And I love that concept of like, well, I'm here now. So I'm going to try because that's the least you can do. At least you can try, right? I love that.

Yeah. And then he's like also just very quick, quick witted. And so he can like. Very polite and kind. He's smart. He's got a lot going for him. And like it makes him the perfect candidate for going up against the dragon. Yes.

It's just like that little wild card that's unexpected. It's like, okay. I also like that he almost told Gandalf about the ring and then decided not to because it does come in handy and actually save their life. The fact that he still has it, you know? Yeah. It's definitely gotten worse because I was wondering,

like in the beginning when he wore it because, you know, it didn't have the same effect as it is now as when Frodo had it. But then you're starting to see like actually it's getting there because as Sauron's getting stronger and he's like amassing his army and he is just becoming that eye that that iconic eye that we know so well from Lord of the Rings it's like okay that totally makes sense as to why he was able to use it for so long but now it's getting worse but I also feel like when Frodo had it he had the eye looking through it and can actually like do

physical damage to him while he has it on yeah because Sauron's not strong enough yet yes well right now a bill blow the only reason he's been able to have it as long as he has is because like you say it was he's it's not as strong or as powerful um so he's actually being able to utilize it a lot more too but i do like the fact that we're seeing that it is taking a toll on him yeah yeah i do like that i was so scared he's going to lose the money for like a second i'm like that'd be the worst place to lose it oh yeah to lose the ring yes in all the gold, you'd never find it. Although, I did wonder, I was like,

I did wonder what if, like, he had just given the ring or, like, just dropped the ring there, but small could definitely sense the ring's power. Yes. And so it probably wouldn't have been safe there, even though, like you say, if it had just been hidden amongst all of the gold, maybe you would have never found it. But he does sense the power. Exactly.

And, like, the whole thing of the ring. is like it wants to be found. So even if it was like hidden in a mountain of gold, I'm sure it wouldn't take too long for someone to like find it. But yeah. This is really good. This is fun. This has been a really fun experience.

Especially with Bill Bill, that's all the barrels. I can't get over that scene. And then he's like, oh, forgot me. And he starts like tapping on it. And then slowly moves. And he's just standing there and goes, so. Yeah, that was comedy.

It's so, it was. He's so adorable. He is. Comedy Gold. Anyway, you guys, thanks so much for joining us on this journey. Make sure that you're subscribed and all that good stuff so you know when we drop the next one. And we'll see you next time. I'm Achara Kirk. This is... This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart Choice. Make another smart choice with AutoQuote Explorer to compare

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