Last Friday, the long anticipated Hobbit sequel finally hit theatres a year after the release of the first movie “An Unexpected Journey”. The Desolation of Smaug picks up right after an Unexpected Journey left off. The young hobbit, Bilbo Baggins continues on his trek with wizard, Gandalf the Grey and a variety of dwarves on a mission to reclaim the jewel of their homeland.

The film quickly splits into three different stories, following a battle Gandalf has with Orcs, Bilbo and the Dwarves’ trek through the Murkwood Forrest, and loveable elf prince Legolas and his potential love interest, Turiel. Almost as soon as the stories are split, the dwarves are united with the elves in a dangerous battle with a familiar villain from the Lord of the Rings movies.

The action subsides temporarily until the Dwarves and Bilbo make a daring escape from the prison in the Woodland Realm. Not only are they being hunted down by the Elves, but now by the Orcs that were on their tail since “An Unexpected Journey.” The dozen captive Dwarves rushed down the river in barrels with no idea where they were headed. This might have been the best scene in the entire movie. It was action packed and not to mention the Orcs were even more beautifully animated, improving tremendously since the first Lord of the Rings movie “The Fellowship of the Ring” was released in 2001.

Although “The Hobbit” is one book that was made into three movies and the viewer already knew what to expect, it still ends in an abrupt manner. Right as Bilbo is about to reclaim the lost jewel for King Oakenshield, he is caught by it’s not so very friendly protector, Smaug, a dragon that once destroyed an entire town with his fire. In an attempt to evade Smaug, Bilbo and the Dwares try to hurt him in any way possible. The film ends with the dragon on his way to destroy the same town out of anger.

We all saw this coming though, right? The worst part is that we’re going to have to wait an entire year for the conclusion and final film in the series. “Desolation of Smaug” was definitely worth seeing, especially for those big “Lord of the Rings” fans out there. Watching it in 3D or IMAX would be worth the money from length alone, but the gorgeous landscape, and intense battle scenes bring it all together. I don’t give out 10’s very often but this one definitely deserves it.

Rating: 10/10