The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug Review *SPOILERS*

Okay, so ya'll should know that I'm a Hobbitfreak. I mean, my name's really Lorien, as in Lothlorien. I was raised on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as well as scripture. When my dad asked me and my brother to read The Fellowship of the Ring before the movie, we read all of them, including The Hobbit. I've read The Silmarillion, and looked at a lot of The Tolkien Companion.

So of COURSE I've seen all the movies.

And I love them all.

Know this before I talk about the most recent, The Desolation of Smaug, the second of The Hobbit Movies.

I

LOVE

it.

Absolutely love it. I'll explain why in a second.

But first, I want to rant a bit about the only thing in all five of Mr. Peter Jackson's movies that truely bugs me. Kili and Tauriel.

No, not Tauriel as a character, but Kili and Tauriel's relationship.

Now, in Tolkien's universe, in the First Age of Middle Earth, before Morgoth was imprisoned, the elves and dwarves had a falling out. Two kings were fighting like school children over a necklace. Sadly, this is totally realistic because people murder over lesser matters. *le sigh*

In particular, Thranduil's ancestor and Thorin's ancestor were the dudes who fought and ruined a long lasting relationship over jewelry. So I totally bought into Mr. Jackson's tale about Thror and Thranduil fighting again over jewels. Totally believable. And dwarves and elves just don't get along in the Fellowship, in both book and movie.

So WHY did they have Tauriel and Kili, Thorin's NEPHEW get crushes on each other???

It doesn't make sense, but whatever. Because as annoying as this is to the Tolkien nerd in me, there is something to shut her completely up.

*SPOILERS*

Gandalf vs. Sauron.

Oh yes.

GANDALF VERSUS FRICKIN SAURON!!!!

You want to know what my face looked like???

I couldn't BREATHE, I was so overjoyed and excited and just super super HAPPY!!!!

Want to know my fav LotR story EVER?

Filgolfin, High King of the Noldir (elves) vs. Morgoth.

And Mr. Jackson brought in it's equivalent in the Third Age. And for all you Tolkien purists who are like "that never happened," it actually did, before The Hobbit, and during. Although Gandalf faced him with the rest of Istari, the wizards. Which is coming in the third film. *insert fangirl squeals here*

And if that wasn't enough for you, what happened right after that?

Bilbo and Smaug. And then Bilbo and Thorin, Balin, Dwalin, Gloin, Nori, Dori, Ori, Bilfor, and Bombur vs Smaug.

That whole sequence had me trying to catch my breath. I never did until I reached the escalators to take me out of the theater. I was just blown away and kept forgetting to breathe. I was so excited.

And then there's the end. I was so sad when Smaug announced he was going to burn Laketown, and I knew he did and killed lots of people. So the dwarves fighting him to keep that from happening was AMAZING and SO MUCH BETTER than what Tolkien wrote. Seriously better.

But of course, Smaug survived (dang it), and flew out, leaving the glitter from the molten gold they tried to kill him with (so much better!!!). And then, my favorite sequence of lines.

"I am fire. I am...death!"

And Bilbo looking as sad as I felt. "What have we done?"

BOOM, BLACK!!!

OMG, Mr. Jackson, the problem isn't a problem. It's an annoyance that I got over very quickly. You know why? It works! Everything works together to make my fav movie of all time, my fav Tolkien movie ever, and made the fifteen-year-old who feel in love with the Silmarillion see it on the silver screen in the best way. Bravo Mr. Jackson, you are AMAZING!!!

4.9999 out of 5 stars!!!!