Film Preview: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Poster

Additional posters can be found below.

Trailer Link

Release Date:

December 13, 2013

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “The Dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf have successfully escaped the Misty Mountains, and Bilbo has gained the One Ring. They all continue their journey to get their gold back from the Dragon, Smaug.”

Poster: A- / B- (7) / B+ / C (6) / B (5)

Review: (#1) This design takes the titular Desolation of Smaug and visualizes it. Having the small Hobbit Bilbo against a backdrop of isolation and quiet conjures up plenty of stirring images and departs from the standard multi-faced designs of past incarnations of the franchise.

(#2-#8) The inevitable character posters use too-slight variants in background design to highlight the connection between the seven characters. There’s only one dwarf in the action and a few too many elves, but they are suitable character designs.

(#9) This design looks more like the ones from the original trilogy and makes the film feel more like a group effort. I still prefer the isolation/desolation of the first poster, but this one is a satisfactory design.

(#10-#15) More character posters that appear to be for French-speaking territories. These are more varied in their background colors, but still not really improved over the first set of character designs.

(#16-#20) These designs have more interesting and detailed backdrops and give more stature to the characters, but they aren’t really much different from the original set of designs.

Trailer: B+ / B-

Review: Intense is the best way to describe this trailer. Bringing together all the images fans are clamoring for, it should have no problem bringing interested parties to the theater. However, highlighting all of the action in the film in the short span of the trailer threatens to ruin what anticipation there is of the film and also highlights one of the misgivings a lot of people have about the film. The book has a decent amount of action, but Peter Jackson has over-goosed the action in the films and that’s all the more evident in this trailer.

As much as I love the original The Lord of the Rings trilogy and had come to accept Legolas being in the new franchise, I still can’t help but be disappointed to see how much screen time he gets in the new trailer. The first trailer used him minimally so we knew he was in it. Now, it’s like the Legolas show when the film is called The Hobbit. Bilbo may get a slight bit more screen time in this second trailer, but I’m not sure it’s very much more. It’s also very nice to finally hear Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of Smaug. Now just to wait and hear him as the Necromancer.

Oscar Prospects:

After the first film failed to earn the attention of the original trilogy, it’s clear the film’s Best Picture chances are dimmed. However, plenty of tech categories will fall into line as the second film in the latest trilogy builds on the franchise’s large Oscar haul.