The Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain are on a quest to reclaim their kingdom from the dread dragon Smaug, with the assistance of the reluctant hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Freeman).

In this second chapter of the trilogy of films based on JRR Tolkien’s book “The Hobbit”, Peter Jackson brings to life Bilbo’s journey through Mirkwood, right up to the Lonely Mountain and, finally, the confrontation with Smaug. Meanwhile, Gandalf the Grey (McKellen) investigates the clues indicating a more disturbing evil lurking in the world.

Like The Lord of The Rings trilogy before it, The Hobbit brings to bear the best of blockbuster filmmaking technology to create this epic fantasy tale. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey set a decisively different tone to its sister trilogy; one more child-friendly and goofy.

That’s not to say this approach is perfect; the first film was criticised for its cartoonish-ness, and for its low stakes. This film improves on these dimensions, as its dual narratives draw it inexorably to the big battle in the final chapter.

The highlight of the first movie was the ‘riddles in the dark’ sequence in which Bilbo matched wits with Gollum. This film’s stand-out is the echo of that scene: the meeting with the stupendous creation that is the dragon. Cast off from the end-of-the-world desperation of the Lord of The Rings trilogy, The Hobbit finds joy in simply being in this amazing world, and seeing its characters come alive on the screen.