Batman v Superman - A Voice in the Void Review

A lot of people whose opinions I appreciate and respect on a number of topics have been, in a manner of speaking, up-in-arms over the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie which was released Friday before last.  I'm here to tell you; their thoughts, discourse and opinions are lies or, perhaps it's better, instead to simply say: they fucking missed the point.

In my aging state I tend to prefer to avoid opening weekend release viewing of major films.  Gone are the days of sitting online for hours to rush into the theatre with the hope of getting a decent seat.  Now we can buy seats, specific seats, in advance and never concern ourselves with spending any more time waiting to view the film than we decide is desired.  As such I waited till today to see BvS.

I wasn't worried about spoilers; I've read the stories these characters are loosely based on (Dark Knight Returns, Death of Superman) and so I waded knee-deep into the minefield of Twitter seeing posts about how Rotten Tomatoes rated it terribly and numerous, numerous people stabbing at both the writer David S Goyer (Blade, The Dark Knight) and the director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, Sucker Punch).



Let's touch on some important things that people completely missed the boat on.  First, the decision to "retell" the Batman origin story.  Yes, they show Thomas and Martha Wayne be gunned down but that isn't the point of the memory; it was in fact a dream and it was a dream about how Bruce first encountered bats and how in this dream they saved/killed him and brought him into the light.  It's a metaphor for who he had become but it also showed that this version of Batman that Goyer and Snyder were portraying was truly broken.  And despite what people will tell you mainstream American (you know, those millions and millions of people who went to see the film that have never read a comic book and may have never even seen prior Batman or Superman movies) they needed to be able to connect Martha Wayne to Bruce in the story.

Second, on that note let's talk about Martha Wayne and Martha Kent (a story line crossover literally decades in the making).  Batman is broken, like...seriously and unimaginably fucked up in this version of the story.  Unlike previous incantations where Bruce used his parent's death as an excuse or even a driving force; this version seems to see that occurrence as a mere stepping stone along a path he was destined for.  Batman is the core of the Justice League; he is their human moral center.  He, unlike all other standard members of the League, is a flesh and blood natural human and he's been broken for a long time.  But guess what; at his core he is still a good person who wanted to do good for the people of Gotham and when Clark utters Martha's name Bruce has an awakening.  He realizes that Superman isn't some god who needs to be feared and destroyed, he's someones son.

You can call that cheesy.  You can call that a cop-out.  But as someone who's read Batman comics for more than half my life; through dozens and dozens of versions of his personality based on differing writers and their construct of him, I can tell you that his reaction was something I expected.

I can't tell you that this movie is perfect; it's not.  There are plot points that seem rushed or at the very least lacking; such as, Diana Prince being in Metropolis to get back a photo of her from when she was fighting in Belgium (along side Chris Pine...) is both naive and somewhat hokey...it's 2016 (even in this movie) and it's a digital image...even if she stole the original and wiped every hard drive she could find he could still have copies...so there's that.  There's the Superman killed people story.  It kinda doesn't make any sense...they were killed with bullets...untraceable bullets, but still...bullets.  Superman would have obliterated them with heat vision if he wanted them dead.  Plus; though this isn't covered in the movie, I am positive that he didn't kill the guy who was holding Lois hostage with a gun to her head so...yeah.

Let's talk about some things that people hated on that aren't plot holes.  First, Batman missing what Lex was really doing.  Bruce had his suspicions and knew Lex was up to something; but I remind you that Bruce is BROKEN mentally and he is absolutely focused on Superman and the need to take him out before he destroys every one and every thing.  Plus there was the Diana women distracting him and weird dreams involving the Flash (which he doesn't know is the Flash yet) and a basically drunk Alfred who wants him to spawn instead of fight.

Second, Superman not seeing the bomb in the during the hearing in DC.  I read a review where the person actually said "why didn't Superman hear the bomb"...I don't mind this person voicing a rather stupid thought, but I do mind them clearly never having watched Fight Club!  "Modern Bombs Don't Tick" is real and the bomb was most likely triggered by a remote device set off by Lex.  There seems to be a side-story in that as well where he allowed his close assistant to die; perhaps he knew that she wasn't able to prevent Bruce from stealing his file, perhaps she knew too much and had to be disposed of.

Batman v Superman is an action-packed film which does a solid job of establishing the DC Universe in characters beyond just Batman and Superman (introduction of Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg, Wonder Woman) and the link between Lex and Darkseid is so...comic-booky that I LOVED IT.  People have been hating on this version of Lex...why?  Because he's a weirdo creep rather than a maniacal psychopath bent on Superman's destruction?  How do you think he got that way?  This movie was Lex Luthor's origin story.  How's that for irony?

I really enjoyed this movie; every film has flaws and plot holes and something for everyone to dislike.  Critics didn't understand it (yes, I realize what I mean when I say that) but it's true.  I'll give you a parable; George Lucas craved the acceptance of Hollywood and critics so much that when he made the prequels he basically said "the true fans will love anything I make but I'm going to try and make this for the masses to enjoy!" and so he went out and did the complete opposite both stylistically and managerially than he had previously by bringing on huge named actors to star and wrote BORING crap stories hoping to appeal to a wider base rather than just focusing on making good movies.  This movie was made with a head nod to the comic book fans specifically.  The story lines are deep rooted in the core of these fanbases.  The Death of Superman and The Dark Knight Returns are some of the most famous stories ever and this film took pieces from both to connect the characters and bring them together.

Is there a better version of this movie?  Possibly.  But this movie didn't disappoint me and I think a lot more people enjoyed it than not.  The fact that on a midday showing the second Sunday after its release I was still in a full theatre is telling.  People love big action films - whether they're about some terrorist trying to take over an airport (Die Hard 2) or superheroes battling a demon monster and each other.

The most important thing I can tell you is this: don't let other people tell you a movie is good or bad; you have to decide that for yourself.  But what's important is that you go in with an open mind.  And also that you listen to me and what I say most of all...I kid..I kid.

Movie Review: Fantastic Four

Courtesy of Marve/20th Century Fox

Story points and plot is divulged below...read at your own peril.

The Marvel universe has been taken in a lot of good directions over the past 15 or so years.   The X-Men franchise - though had some middling along the way - has overall been very strong thanks to some great directing work. The Avengers (including Hulk and Iron Man movies) has also had some issues but again the strength is still there making the franchise a billion dollar entity.

All of this was possible because Marvel stepped up and basically created their own production house - not satisfied with letting others take the lead on their own characters.   Which is what makes this film so surprisingly bad.

Actually, let me take that back...it's not bad; it's worse than bad - it's boring.

Fantastic Four is a reboot to the previously failed franchise staring Ioan Gruffudd (King Arthur), Michael Chiklis (The Shield) and Jessica Alba (Sin City) which held true to the original story of how the team got their powers. The first movie wasn't bad, a typical Origin Story to introduce an audience not all that familiar with superhero movies back in 2005.   Where the train went off the tracks was in the second film when they decided to follow the Silver Surfer/Galactus storyline (an utterly famous arc in the comics which has spawned hundreds of stories since) but apparently deciding that a giant pink and purple humanoid with amazing powers and gadgets they made Galactus some kind of cloud creature with tentacles...yeah.

So, is the new Fantastic Four worse than tentacle monster Galactus? Sadly, yes.

The film dives into the childhood of Reed Richards and Ben Grimm where, in fifth grade, the two collaborate on an amazing device that can transport matter into another dimension.   Fast Forward seven years (so that makes Reed like...17?) and one of the top minds in the world is trolling high school science fairs looking for talent? Yeup.

Courtesy of Marve/20th Century Fox

Richards gets brought on board at the Baxter institute where Franklin Storm (Sue and Johnny's father) runs a prestigious (although apparently secretly funded) institute for gifted youngsters.

Oh, and Von Doom is there.

Richards and the team, along with Doom who is apparently a badass with a past (that isn't gone into other than in random asides) and whom is in love with Sue (gotta keep that part of the continuity, right?) work to complete a large-scale version of Reed's original machine to travel to this new universe.

After testing it and confirming it works the team gets benched in lieu of professionals (a novel concept) but the boys get drunk and decide to use the device themselves.   Predictably that endeavor goes awry leaving Doom presumed dead in the other universe and the other three transformed. The trip back causes some sort of disruption field which affects Sue as she's wildly and RANDOMLY TYPING A MILE A MINUTE ON A KEYBOARD because we all know that the faster and more random you type into a scientific computer the more likely you are to be successful at what you're trying to do. Not blaming Mara for bad acting necessarily...though she seemed to do kind of the same thing in House of Cards a couple times...

So now they've got powers and are going to team up to save the world, right?!?!? Wrong.

Courtesy of Marve/20th Century Fox

To apparently create heightened and never actually fulfilled drama to this story Richards runs away from the complex the team is being held at. He disappears, naked, from a hidden and totally off-the-grid military installation in the middle of winter...just, why?

The story skips ahead a year. They've all gotten better control of their powers and a new device is ready to transport a team back to the other universe...where Doom is alive and has been busy cultivating world-altering powers!

In the end the movie culminates in an all-to-short fight between the Four and Doom where predictably and incredibly easily they are victorious. The world is saved!

I was genuinely excited for this reboot. The FF are one of my favorite teams as they are origin of my favorite Marvel character the Silver Surfer who has played a prominent role in their universe of the decades of comics. It seems really unlikely the studio will green-light a sequel given how much this movie has been panned; which is unfortunate. And if Twitter is to be believed even the Director thinks the final product is shite...intimating that there were outside influences at work that destroyed his better vision.

Courtesy of Marve/20th Century Fox

The cast had promise but the story was flawed. Buried in the minutia of character development. Why does there need to be a origin story movie for all superhero characters? Where is that written?   Jedi have the Force - it's explained (albeit briefly) and then it's understood and accepted. There's no damned origin movie explaining how Jedi's got their powers or why. Just make a movie that's entertaining and shows the characters in their element. If people don't understand why so and so has these powers and what's his name has those powers they can FUCKING GOOGLE IT.

It just feels that these movies more often than not fail due to the hindrance of having to spend screen time devoted to explaining things that don't really need explaining. Just tell us a fun, entertaining, action laden story!

Sadly FF is a big pass.   Don't waste your money. If you want to see it, wait for streaming of DVD.   The graphics and fight scenes don't even require the big screen like most action movies do - there's not enough of them to warrant it.

Tb

Movie Review - Jurassic World

Courtesy of Universal

There are some movies out there that have you leaving the theatre scratching you head asking "What the hell did I just watch?" - I'm looking at you Mulholland Drive.  And then there are movies that have amazing twist endings like Fight Club or to a lesser extend Identity.

Jurassic World (the fourth installment of the Steven Spielberg Jurassic Park series) is neither of these kinds of movies.  It's a straight forward action movie and if you go into it assuming anything else you're setting yourself up to be disappointed.

There aren't twists (unless you somehow assumed the rugged guy and the uptight girl weren't going to kiss) though there are interesting ways that the story diverts from the norm along the way.

The premise of the movie is that on the same island as the original Jurassic Park - Isla Nublar -the park has been realized and opened as Jurassic World.  It's not 20 years since the tragedy of Hammond's original park and the world has accepted Dinosaurs in all their majesty as nothing more exotic than African White Rhinos or some other creature they'd probably never see in person.  They have a baby dinosaur petting zoo/riding park...yeah.

Courtesy of Universal

So, even though the park has run smoothly for years - even with Raptors and a T-Rex - it's about time for that all to change.

Claire (played by the stunning Bryce Dallas Howard) is an uptight control freak genius who runs the day-to-day at the park.  A lot has been made of her "lack of feminism" as a female lead character.  I saw it more as a caricature of that kind of woman than as an advertisement for that sort of person to truly exist.  She's a damsel...but not really.  She reacts the way, I imagine, anyone who isn't insane or an idiot of some kind would if confronted by a ten-ton monster dinosaur who's trying to eat you.

Courtesy of Universal

Courtesy of Universal

Owen (played by the blue-eyed dreamboat Chris Pratt) is the prototypical Han Solo rip-off, right down to the scene with him bemoaning his failed date with Clair whilst absentmindedly working on his motorcycle (which he uses to lead a pack of Raptors, by the way).  All you needed was talk of hydro-spanners and failed hyperspace jumps and it would have been Star Wars.  He doesn't react the way a person should when confronted by a ten-ton monster dinosaur...but earlier in the movie he is clearly established as INSANE when he jumps into the Raptor paddock to save a fellow crew member.

Courtesy of Universal

The story centers around a new dinosaur which was genetically engineered from a secret concoction of other dinosaur and assorted species (secret until the plot warranted it's inclusion) escaping from it's paddock and running wild across the island killing anything it comes in contact with.

Oh, did I forget that the main characters of the movie are Claire's two nephews?  Well...they kinda forgot to include a plot point in the beginning of the movie explaining anything about why the kids were coming to the island.  And throughout the movie they keep putting the boys in peril but failed to create an appropriate bond between the boys and the audience to establish why I would care that they, instead of an extra in the background, are picked up and carried away by a Pterosaur.

Courtesy of Universal

At it's core this movie is about badass dinosaurs getting into some serious showdowns and there are plenty of great action scenes.  It had me thinking about the failed Alien vs. Predator movies or Predators where the story spent way too much time on the human characters and not enough time with the Aliens and Predators kicking ass.  Jurassic World should have been 105 minutes of dinosaurs rampaging and fighting to the death.  The human element should have been merely fodder to help the audience understand the size and scope of the dinosaurs might.

That is a movie I would have enjoyed.

Jurassic World isn't bad, it's a fun and entertaining action movie.  I think the choice to bring on an art house director showed in how they tried to add a greater level of drama to the movie but unlike the original Jurassic Park they failed to do so.  When you sat in that theatre and saw the T-Rex pushing that car further into the mud you were worried about little Timmy and when Ellie was running from the Raptors in the bunker you were FREAKING OUT.  Jurassic World had no moments like that, at least not for me.  It could be that I'm older now and more jaded to films...but, nah, it's the director's fault.

This is a movie worth seeing and worth seeing on the big screen to fully appreciate he sheer size and awesomeness of the creatures.  But go to a matinee and save yourself a few bucks.

Tb

Movie Review: Interstellar

The world is dying. Humanity, in its splendor and ignorance, has finally driven the planet past the breaking point.

During the 1930s in America the people of the southwest experienced a Dust Bowl; a multi-year drought which created massive dust storms that killed the agricultural abilities of that region. 

When we meet the main characters of Interstellar: Cooper, Murph, Tom & Donald, it is a dark time for crop production.  Virtually all cash crops have been made extinct by the blight and now all that humanity has left is corn.  Cooper (Mathew McConaughey) is an engineer/pilot/genius turned farmer and he and his family have made the tough decision to stick it out and keep producing corn in an attempt to continue feeding the world.

The first part of the movie sets the tone for why humanity needs to act as desperately as they appear to do later in the film.  The director, Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception) does an excellent job of maintaining the human element throughout the movie.  Far too often the audience has the need for an emotional connection to the characters thrust at us at some point in the film and then the idea is abandoned and it is simply expected that it will continue to exist.  Like a sapling dropped in the ground, loosely covered in soil and given no water or nourishment; it will not grow.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Let’s talk about the story.  NASA has detected a wormhole in the space around Saturn.  Prior to this story’s beginning they sent twelve individual manned missions through the portal to land on and explore the planets that had been discovered.  If the world was found to be habitable and of good quality the explorers were to report back and NASA would begin the process of sending the rest of our race to follow after them.  Cooper and his daughter Murph come upon the installation NASA is running this operation from in secret. 

Despite the long runtime, 169 minutes, there is not much dilly-dallying.  From the point where Cooper finds NASA to when he is on a spaceship heading into the unknown is roughly eight minutes of screen time.  It was as if Nolan was saying to the director of Armageddon, “I could have done your movie…better…an in about a quarter of the time”.

Let’s talk physics.  Christopher and his brother Jonathan Nolan, whom have partnered on several script writing undertakings in the past: The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Memento, and it is clear that these brothers know their physics.  Far too often in science fiction films that are supposed to be based in reality the impossible is set as merely a tiny hurdle to be jumped (I’m looking at you Gravity!).  But Interstellar uses actual science to discuss potential risks and dangers involved in the mission.  For example: when visiting the first planet after coming through the wormhole the team must decide how to approach the planet, which is incredibly close to a black hole, because the closer they pass by the anomaly the more slowly time will move for them.  Because the planet is so close to a black hole time operates differently; an hour on the planet is seven years of real time.  This is both totally fucked up and cool at the same time. 

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Often times with science fiction movies that involve present day humans there is a tendency to use the “everything that could possibly go wrong will go wrong” mentality; a good example of this would be Mission to Mars.  Interstellar doesn’t do this.  Sure things go wrong and sure there are problems to add drama to the film but they are more believable because they are not so damned predictable. 

There are portions of the movie that you just have to take on faith.  Faith that Nolan will explain himself and his vision at some point.  Like how when a dust storm kicks up and Murph forgets to close her window so her room is covered with dust.  The dust coalesces into lines which spell out coordinates in binary…which Cooper realizes and identifies.  This isn’t TOTALLY insane since Cooper has already been portrayed to be exceedingly smart and inquisitive, but it’s a bit of a stretch for the audience.

At times movies can be either ruined or significantly enhanced by their score; movies like Gladiator and Star Wars are examples of the latter.   Interstellar has a score that completely draws you into the story.  The moments of tenderness are soft and inviting and the moments of pure adrenaline driving intensity are represented by roaring crescendos that will drop your jaw without you even realizing it.

Nolan has proven himself to be an outstanding creator and he did not let us down with Interstellar.  You don’t have to be a fan of sci-fi to enjoy this movie; because in truth it’s not a science fiction movie.  What occurs is rooted in fact or theory…with a little bit of imagination added to it. 

If you missed this in the theater I feel for you, but make sure you catch this as soon as possible!

As always, thanks for reading!

Movie Review - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

A long time ago, in a place called 1968 there was a revolutionary movie called Planet of the Apes staring Moses (I mean: noted gun-nut Charlton Heston) wherein the world had long ago plunged into a technological darkness and apes had taken over as the dominant intelligence on planet Earth.  Heston, an astronaut returning from a mission, lands on what he thinks is some other planet where evolution went horribly wrong...and in a stunning display of terrible acting (shirtless on a beach no less) he views a partially destroyed Statue of Liberty and realizes it was Earth all along.  This "epic" scene has been mockingly used many, many times since then.

The failed 2001 relaunch of the franchise had a similarly idiotic scene at the end - this time with the Lincoln Memorial being replaced by an ape Lincoln (like they'd still have had an ape Lincoln...) statue.  This movie was much more militaristic; showing apes as ruthless aggressors bent on the destruction of all humanity. 

Luckily, a decade later, Twentieth Century Fox revitalized the story with better acting (yes, I know it's James Franco) and better CGI work.  With forethought for a franchise they built the first movie as exactly that; a first movie.  Caesar is an ape exposed to experimental drugs meant to cure Alzheimer's but in him the affects were amazing and he became hyper intelligent for an ape; capable of understanding and solving complex problems.

Jump ahead ten years (in the POTA universe) and the Apes; with guidance from the mighty Caesar have made a community in the vast forests outside San Francisco.  Caesar has sired several offspring; the oldest and strongest - Blue Eyes - he is grooming to eventually take his place.  Teaching him to use his intelligence as a guide to being a good, kind leader.

The opening sequence of the movie shows the apes in a massive pack hunt of elk - it's amazing watching the coordination and sequences rendered of the apes swinging through the tees.  If you've watched any of the previews you have probably seen the bear attack...yeah, it's awesome.

In Dawn humanity is on its last legs in San Francisco.  They've cobbled together a meager civilization at the heart of the city but have no power source and are running low on fuel. Their solution: restart a hydro-electric dam and bring power back to the city.  Thus enter the plot.

The movie is decently well written - with few plot issues.  There are a few "too convenient" situations but they are mostly believable given the characters and situations involved.  An excellent scene occurs when Koba (one of Caesar's most trusted advisers and human-hater) "plays ape" to seem non-threatening to some humans he happens upon at a weapons depot.  Little do they know...

The ape society is built on classes with Caesar at the top as the smartest and the strongest.  But unlike most animal class systems there is no battles for supremacy because the teachings of Caesar are that "ape not kill ape".  This mantra works...right up until the point that one of the ape's decides Caesar likes humans too much and is weak because of it.

Often times with movies that should focus on non-human characters (like Alien vs. Predator) the human characters always seem to take over and overshadow/drown out they main characters.  But Dawn did a good job representing both equally and well.  Time was spent with just the apes; of them having conversations and discussing serious topics.

There are a few scenes that are very impactful; like when Caesar and the entire ape society show up at the doorstep of the human refugee camp as a show of strength with a warning not to venture into their woods before.  When Caesar speaks - the reaction of the humans in the crowd is outstanding.  And, as you've no doubt seen in the previews - seeing an ape on horseback shooting an automatic rifle is pretty amazing.

As a second installment in the movie franchise Dawn is excellent.  It's not just a plot piece, moving us to the next film - it does so much more than that.  The struggle for the planet is real and Caesar realizes this at the end.  Humanity will not be coming back - now is the time for the ape to rule; and he will lead his people to victory.

I, for one, can't wait to see where the next movie takes us.  Hail Caesar.

Thanks for reading!

Tim  

Godzilla Movie Review

**Mild Spoilers – Nothing Direct**

The King of the Monsters – that is what they once called him.  There was a time in past when Godzilla was more of a spoof character (not specifically talking about the 1998 American version, but that’s certainly part of the consideration).  As with any movie franchise at a certain point the developers run out of ways to make good films and they just start making things people will hopefully shell out money to see.

This revamp of the Godzilla character, directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters) who makes his blockbuster movie debut with this film comes out swinging for the fences. 

The writer, Max Borenstein is a relative unknown with no major motion picture experience; which unfortunately shows in the human character development. 

Courtesy of Warner Brothers

Let’s start with the bad, since there isn’t much and there’s no terrible.  I am of the camp who thinks that monster movies should focus on the monsters; especially in a Godzilla movie where you can have epic battles and don’t need an intricate character-driven script to tell an amazing story.  “Godzilla fights a Monster in downtown San Francisco for an hour” – Best. Pitch. Ever.

The problem with Godzilla from a human character standpoint is Borenstein tries to make us care – I’m assuming with the hope that the audience will then care more that these people are in danger.  They even tried to establish the fatality element with killing a “main” character early on.   But in reality, American movies have a track-record of not letting focal characters die so even when they are in “danger” they’re really not. 

I never once care about the humans in this movie; the acting isn’t bad, it’s not the actors fault – I wasn’t compelled by the nature of their story to become invested.  Other than Ken Watanabe’s character, who has maybe all of 20, introspective and impactful lines.  Now; on to the good stuff.

GODZILLA IS A BADASS.

Courtesy of Warner Brothers

Taking inspiration from some of the cheesier Japanese movies in the past Godzilla is the good guy – even though the United States military may have alternate ideas about that.  The scene where you first see him brings back so many memories of all the previous incarnations and his feet (which are the first part you see) look somewhat funny because they are so thick and stumpy, but when you see him in all his glory it is a sight to behold.

In the story, Godzilla is basically a bully – like the Earth is his playground and if you think you’re badass enough to play here we’re going to rumble and I will probably breathe fire in your face.  Watanabe’s character is who first realizes that Godzilla isn’t part of the problem but is their only chance at a solution, he has a great line where an Admiral asks his advice for solving the problem with the creatures rampaging though the Western United States and he just says, “let them fight”. 

The overarching story involving the creatures is solid – I don’t want to give anything away but it makes sense from a natural order perspective.  Special effects are masterful and though you are left wishing the fight scenes between Godzilla and his opponent were even longer there is still plenty of destruction for the rampaging glutton inside you.  To that point, there’s even a scene where an entire skyscraper falls on top of Godzilla…seriously.

The film’s been out in the US for about 36 or so hours and if you haven’t seen it yet, get off your ass and go to the earliest show you can today.  I went to a theatre that is notoriously dead (as it is in a mall that barely even exists anymore) and it was still a relatively full seating. 

As with any action-laden movie viewing thus on the big-screen is a must, but when you see Godzilla fill the screen and roar, don’t be surprised if your pants feel funny.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The wonderful thing about trilogy's is their formula. First act introduces the main characters and the premise of the story, in the case of The Hobbit: Bilbo, Thorin Oakenshield and his band of Dwarves of Erebor.  Some in the company are old enough to have actually lived there, others descendants.  The second act puts the heroes in the worst possible position ever where they can't possibly win. Enter the dragon, Smaug!

Tolkien traditionalists may take umbrage with certain parts of this second installment as parts of the story were created for the screen that never existed in the book.  The same was said about the first film, such as Azog the Defiler and his dark desire to ruin the line of Thror one by one. 

In The Desolation of Smaug, the Elves play a much bigger role than in that part of the book and Orlando Bloom reprises his role from The Lord of the Rings trilogy plus the added bonus of Evangeline Lilly as Thauriel, captain of the guard for the Wood Elves and the love of Legolas. Though it must be an unrequited love as Legolas is high-born and Thauriel is a commoner.

The additions, including a strange lovestory aspect that seems almost forced despite the natural formation director Peter Jackson tries to create, are not all bad.  Where I run into issues is how they add people and scenes and then, even in a one-book-trilogy manage to butcher the great scene with the spiders of Mirkwood by shortening it inexplicably is genuinely annoying.

An addition that I did specifically enjoy was the story of Gandalf.  In the book he leaves the company as they are entering Mirkwood and then his story is never told.  In the movie we discover how he encounters the great Evil to the North and how it plays into the return of Sauron.  

The film flowed beautifully and was visually stunning. Rarely does a movie of such length not feel like a movie of such length. Here the rich story, engaging characters and various storylines keep the viewer on the edge the entire time.