The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

It reviews better than it plays — admired more than it is enjoyed.

• “Middle-earth's got its mojo back. A huge improvement on the previous installment, this takes our adventurers into uncharted territory and delivers spectacle by the ton.”

  Nick de Semlyen, Empire · 100

• “Bilbo, as played by Freeman, suggests a sly-dog Dana Carvey without irony, and he is certainly overmatched, but that doesn't mean he's outplayed. Desolation is now his business.”

  Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly · 91

• “Smaug is different: a really good movie, superior to the first in that it brings its characters to rambunctious life.”

  Richard Corliss, Time · 90

• “The thematic elements are in place, the emotional tension is highly strung, and the action unfolds in a wave like the fire erupting from the dragon's mouth, overtaking all in its path.”

  Sheila O'Malley, RogerEbert.com · 88

• “Most middle movies in a trilogy simply mark time. Not this one.”

  Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor · 83