Yahoo Movies 
Top reviews for Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
Sequel roundly hailed as better than the lack-lustre first film.
The first reviews for Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' are in... and much improved when compared to the mixed bag he received for 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'.
Some of the criticisms that he's stretching Tolkien's source material a little thin to spread over three epic movies appear to have come back to haunt him.
But largely, his sequel has been hailed as a much more propulsive proposition.
[Spoilers and pictures from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug annual]
The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, for example, has called it an 'entertaining and exhilarating adventure'.
“[Jackson] began his Hobbit trilogy at an amiable, meanderingly wayward canter, and tried the patience of believers and non-believers alike with that initial supper scene, almost an epic in itself,” he says.
“But this second episode commences with a narrative whipcrack – a quick flashback to Gandalf and Thorin tensely discussing their great plan in the snug bar of the Prancing Pony – and then we're off, at a tremendous gallop.”
Total Film agrees, summing up: “Despite suffering from middle-act wobbles, The Desolation Of Smaug nevertheless delivers rousing action, incredible visuals and one stupendous dragon.”
[Armitage: Peter pushes you to extremes]
Empire extolls the fact that 'Middle-earth's got its mojo back', gifting it a full five stars.
“A huge improvement on the previous instalment, this takes our adventurers into uncharted territory and delivers spectacle by the ton,” says Nick De Semlyen.
Jason Chang on Variety says that the film is a 'major improvement' on the first, noting a 'livelier pace and a heightened sense of urgency'.
But the Daily Telegraph's Robbie Collin, who described being 'heart-broken' on seeing the first film, was never going to be a fan, accusing the filmmakers of 'stalling for time'.
“There is, in short, an awful lot of Desolation to wade through before we arrive, weary and panting, on Smaug’s rocky porch,” he says.
“But that was always going to be the drawback of spinning out a 276-page children’s story into more than eight hours of blockbuster movie, particularly when the director is keener to build a prequel trilogy to his own operatic Lord of the Rings films than do justice to Tolkien’s original playful, uncluttered vision.”
It's due out across the land on December 13.
