The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I saw this at midnight with a few of my good friends as a great way to end my birthday and because my friends and I are big fans of The Hobbit. Just a heads up though, this film picks up right where An Unexpected Journey ends, so I would highly recommend watching the first Hobbit movie before going to see this.

This movie was a great second part to The Hobbit trilogy. While the first film was light and on the happy side, this film goes darker. It explores the evil that was discovered in the first as well as explores the darkness that appears to be developing within each character. It was interesting to see how this contributed to the plot as a whole, and how you can see it affecting each character differently. I was especially impressed with the transition of Bilbo's character, going from the light and cheery hobbit and the growth he has in this film.

What was also great about this film was the action sequences and the new locations that appeared. The sequence in which the dwarves are floating in barrel is one of the best parts of the movie. A lot goes on during this, but the spectacle and the constant action kept me thrilled and on the edge of my seat. The locations of Lake Town and Mirkwood are standouts amongst the many locations that were studding and really added to the narrative. One of the other cool parts of this movie is the appearance of Smaug (played by Benedict Cumberbatch). The trailers of this film did a really good job of hiding Smaug's appearance, and when he finally appears in the movie, it is a sight to see. The entire sequence inside the mountain is really well done, and this in turn leads to a great conclusion of the film that makes you want to see the third film in the trilogy.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. It was a great sequel that had really cool action sequences and was all together a well-made movie. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first film, anyone who liked the LOTR trilogy, and anyone who is looking to watch a good fantasy movie.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfflhfn1W-o

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

I just watched this a couple days ago as something to do and as an attempt to get someone to watch these movies with me. Out of my whole family, I'm the only one who really likes the Lord of the Rings. I'm not a big fan of hardcore fantasy films, but these films are few of the exceptions.

I thought this film was a much lighter and happier film in comparison to the LOTR trilogy. There were lots of comedic moments, mostly coming from the dwarves, that lightened the mood. One would think it would be really hard to keep track who's who in the 13 dwarves, but they were all very unique which made them easy to separate from one another.While I most likely couldn't name all 13 (even though most of them rhyme with others and such) for you right now, the film gravitates to showing the ones you need to pay most attention to or draws focus to ones that say important lines. The other characters in this film are also well-acted, I especially enjoyed the characters of Bilbo (played by Martin Freeman) and Radagast (played by Sylvester McCoy).

The action in this movie was also really well-done. While my favorite scene is the dinner scene when you meet all of the dwarves, my favorite action sequences would have to be the major chase between the main characters and an Orc pack as well as the scene with the goblins. I wish I saw it in 3D to truly appreciate the hard work that went into these sequences, but they are still really great to watch in 2D.

If you are a fan of the LOTR trilogy and/or a fan of the books, this movie fits right in. It's great to see some characters from the trilogy appear in this film, but it is also great to see new characters that are well-portrayed.  I will say though, if you have never seen the LOTR trilogy, do not feel like you have to watch those in order to understand this film. This film (and the next two that will follow) is a prequel to what happens in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. My mom has never seen the LOTR trilogy, so references and characters that are made and seen in this one did not resonate with her but also did not confuse her when watching this film. I do recommend watching the original trilogy if you are interested in them, though, because they are really good films and you appreciate the references that are made in this movie.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. I would recommend this to anyone who likes the LOTR trilogy and fantasy films.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDnYMbYB-nU

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

I just recently went with two good friends of mine to see this in theaters. All three of us are big fans of the books, so we were hoping that it would be a lot better than the first one. Based on being a reader of the books, this movie had the majority of the plot points in the book, they were just rearranged or partially changed to fit the story. This movie also introduces the main villain, Kronos, in this movie, and unlike the first movie, it follows the storyline of the danger of Kronos being able to rise and possibly destroy the world. There were changes made to fit the movie better, such as the prophecy being changed from 16 to 20, which makes sense because the actors playing the main characters are all around 20. Other changes were disappointing, but most of those have to do with the climax of the movie, so I won't ruin it. But based on just seeing this movie and not comparing it to the book, the movie is just an average sequel. Personally, they made it too much of a "feel-good" sort of movie. On the plus side, most of the characters were well-acted. As a fan of the books, the characters of Clarisse and Mr. D were particularly good. Overall, I found this movie pretty so-so, so I would wait until it comes out on dvd to check it out. I would recommend it to those who are looking for a much better adaptation of the Percy Jackson series than the first movie and anyone who is looking for a movie to watch with kids (though there are some scary parts, but not too bad) and anyone into fantasy movies.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6aYjbpBm-E

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I haven't seen this movie in full in a decent amount of time. I still really enjoy it, and it is always fun to see the first Harry Potter movie when all the actors were so young. I was a big fan of the books, and it's really cool to see everything on screen. The first film followed pretty well with the first book and it's fun to watch whether you're young or old. I would recommend this movie if you enjoy the books and if you like fantasy films, as well as if you're looking for a good family movie.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbdM1db3JbY