2nd Time Lucky: 5 Sequels That Are Better Than the Original (No.5)

5 - The Hobbit; The Desolation of Smaug

Plot: After a narrow escape at the end of the first Hobbit film, the company find themselves being hunted down by those pesky orcs. Throw in some gargantuan spiders, some devious elves and a few shifty characters at Lake Town and the little heroes find themselves at the lonely mountain, where they finally meet the stupendous Smaug.

Why is it better? I hugely enjoyed the first one but here the whole thing seems to go up a notch. The pace increases and the action is majestic. In a film that centres around set pieces, the spider fight, barrel run and the encounter with the Dragon are sweeping pieces of action that are superbly shot and imagined. More importantly all of the fight scenes make me reminisce back to the halcyon days of playing ‘LOTR’ on the PS2 and beating the crap out of some orcs. It feels 'Ringsier' in tone and the nods to the LOTR series are a good thing to see. The visuals are spectacular; when Smaug rises from the glut of gold in Erebor it is wonderfully striking. Whereas in the first one you feel like you've seen it all before (the homeliness of the Shire & the beauty of Rivendell), here you witness every new place through the same doe-eyes as the dwarves and Bilbo.

More to the point, the cast have a much meatier script to deal with and the plot is simply more interesting. Thorin (Armitage) is able to delve into the character much more than in the first and the film is the better for it. For the first time you can see the light and shade to his character which in turn offsets the innocence of Bilbo. Martin Freeman is a joy to watch once again, and must be what Tolkien envisaged when he put pen to paper all of those years ago. There’s a piece of off-the-cuff comedy acting when he encounters Smaug that is quite brilliant. Moreover, his rapport with ‘Sherlock’ mucker Smaug (Voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) is both tense and humorous in equal measure.The Elves are an entertaining aside, with Lee Pace stealing the show as the sinister Thranduil. Throw in the welcome return of Legolas (Bloom), the drop-dead-kick-ass Tauriel (Lilly), the gritty Bard (Evans) and an excellent comic turn from Stephen Fry as the mayor of Lake town and it amalgamates to create a sharp cast working in tandem with stunning visuals. In simple terms it's what I feel a blockbuster should be.

There are certainly the tell-tale signs of this being a middle film in a trilogy. There are a number of plot-lines left open and unresolved, however that happens in every 'Middle' film you can imagine so it would be harsh to call it a fault. Also, say what you will, but I thought the cliff hanger at the end was bloody epic; roll on part 3.