The Hobbit 2 rules with awe and spectacle

With The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, unquestionably one of the greatest cinematic experiences ever and a proud prequel to the equally stupendous The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it's impossible to imagine that the consummate passion and genius of filmmaker Peter Jackson and his team could reach even further.

The loaded expectation and nervous anticipation evaporates after the first moments of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and as it spirals further into magnificent splendour, awesome visual spectacle, one of the greatest stories ever told from inspired Bloemfontein-born JRR Tolkien, takes its second step towards its conclusion, which we have patiently to wait for, for another year!

For the filmmakers who a decade ago brought that three-volume opus to the screen with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit Trilogy presented them with an irresistible journey of their own: to explore fully the mysteries and dangers both hinted at and fully described in both the appendices and The Hobbit, while not compromising the tone of what was essentially written as a book for young people.

A continuous story

The Hobbit trilogy films tell a continuous story set in Middle Earth 60 years before The Lord of the Rings and, in its second chapter, the adventure Bilbo Baggins continues as he journeys with the wizard Gandalf and 13 dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, on an epic quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and the lost dwarf kingdom of Erebor.

Having survived the beginning of their unexpected journey, the company travels east, encountering along the way the skin-changer Beorn and a swarm of giant spiders in the treacherous forest of Mirkwood. After escaping capture by the dangerous wood elves, the dwarves journey to Lake Town and, finally, to the Lonely Mountain itself, where they must face the greatest danger of all-a creature more terrifying than any other; one which will test not only the depth of their courage but the limits of their friendship and the wisdom of the journey itself-the dragon Smaug.

What's really great about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is that it never uses its visual effects or spectacle as crutches; the context fully supports the rich narrative and its equally vibrant characters. The iconic Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf and 13 dwarves have become family to Hobbitans and the enduring bond that has been created between their fictional reality and our fantasy reality is now stronger than ever. As we do with family, we will protect these endearing characters with our lives and, although we are sitting in the comfort of our cinema seats, the exceptional and frightening realism of the swarm of giant spiders or Baggins's confrontation with Smaug, spurs the imagination into action.

In contrast with fearful encounters, there's abundant delight and joy when the dwarves are hidden inside empty barrels from the elves' wine cellar, and then released down a chute into the river. A definitive and unforgettable encounter in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, is when Bilbo ventures down into the chambers of Erebor and discovers that within mountains of gold and treasure, a dragon sleeps still.

A psychotic and highly intelligent creature

Smaug is not just any dragon, but a psychotic and highly intelligent creature who can talk and wants to eat people. This suspenseful and well-directed sequence captures the essence of suspense and adventure and will not disappoint those who have read the book. Another amazing journey in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is that of Gandalf, his quest tying together events in The Lord of The Rings; Gandalf believes that the mysterious necromancer who has risen at the abandoned fortress of Dol Guldur is connected to the changes he senses in Middle Earth.

With The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, our love affair with Middle Earth starts all over again and it won't be surprising for fans to start watching The Lord of The Rings saga again. A further bonus for Hobbit buffs is an opportunity to experience The Hobbit like never before with the release of an Extended Edition BluRay 3D and BluRay that includes 13 minutes of extra film footage that extends individual scenes, making this the must-see, definitive version for fans. If that's not enough, the three-disc version of the Extended Edition includes nearly nine hours of new bonus features that include fantastic commentary with Peter Jackson, director/producer/screenwriter and Philippa Boyens, co-producer/screenwriter.

You are taken on an unbelievable journey that chronicles a multi-part chronological history of the filming of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, covering pre-production in the various departments of the film in the months leading up to the start of principal photography, the boot camp training for the main cast, the work done on set chronologically through the three shooting blocks and in the world of its digital effects.

You will undoubtedly fall in love with Peter Jackson's love affair with Middle Earth; his sentimental attachment and ownership of a story that has taken up 15 years of his life, filled with passion, enthusiasm and taking the art of filmmaking to an ultimate level, will be treasured forever.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is one of the most exciting and exhilarating film experience of the year with first-rate performances from its ensemble cast and won't disappoint under any circumstances. This is why we go to the movies and celebrate the genius of a storyteller like Tolkien and a story maker like Peter Jackson. Destiny brought these two forces together, changing the history of how stories are told and brought to life.

Review of The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey: www.writingstudio.co.za/page4389.html

Behind the scenes

In adapting The Hobbit into three fully rounded motion pictures, Jackson and his screenwriting collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, along with Guillermo del Toro, found they had the freedom to avoid having to cut or condense the narrative of the book while also incorporating material from the 125 pages of appendices that Tolkien included at the end of The Lord of the Rings. "The challenge of making these films is remaining true to the spirit of the book while also transitioning to the flavour and style of The Lord of the Rings, and we were very aware of the tonal differences," noted screenwriter and producer Fran Walsh.

With the film's 15 primary characters already introduced in the first film, Jackson and his collaborators were also able to embrace what Jackson describes as the book's "breathless pace" in the second. "You can step straight into the story from where the first film left off, so there's little need for exposition," he said. "At the same time, with the second film, the challenge was to deepen the conflict and increase the difficulty for our characters. I wanted it to feel a bit like a thriller, as the events intensify and the stakes go up. That's what's so exciting to me about this film-it's a continuation of the story, but takes you into a whole new world. We travel to new places, meet new people and, of course, we get to see the iconic Tolkien moment of Bilbo's confrontation with the dragon."

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