The nationwide release of The Hobbit 2: The Desolation of Smaug is around the corner and the critics seem to have already passed their verdict.

Enstars rounded up a bunch of reviews that capture the general reaction the film has received so far.

It seems as though most critics concur that the sequel in The Hobbit series has trumped the original.

"Smaug is different: a really good movie, superior to the first in that it brings its characters to rambunctious life, to joust not just with Orcs but with a bear-man, a clutter of giant spiders and the grim dragon that gives the movie its title.

"The Desolation of Smaug - a strangely oppressive name, by the way, for such a sturdy rollick - satisfies both as a Saturday-matinee serial and as a tempting fanfare for the climactic There and Back Again" -- Time

"It's hardly news that in the second installment of Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" trilogy, the dragon rouses from his slumber. What IS news: the franchise wakes up, too. Die-hard fans might disagree, but to many, the first film, last year's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, took way too long to get going and then dragged for much of its 169 minutes.

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is not much shorter - 8 minutes, to be exact - but it feels brisker, lighter, funnier. The characters are more varied, more interesting; We'll take a comic turn by the entertaining Stephen Fry over another Orc any day. There's even an added romantic subplot." -- The Huffington Post

"Smaug was always going to be the foundation on which this movie - and indeed, probably the entire prequel trilogy - rested. The production would largely rise or fall depending on whether it got Smaug right. I was anxious to see what they'd do with the character, and a bit worried about whether they could pull it off, so I'm happy they did so great a job." -- Forbes

"A wonderfully thrilling and blissfully exciting rollercoaster ride of fantasy action and adventure, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - the second film in the trilogy - is a pleasure from beginning to end, and as it reaches its thrilling climax it will leave fans begging for more.

"The middle movie in any trilogy is always the hardest to pull off, but maestro director Peter Jackson (who also sneaks in a brief cameo at the start of this film) is really at one with his adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's books, and despite leveraging in new characters into the epic tale this Middle Earth adventure is a pleasure from beginning to end." -- Mirror.uk

"Handsome though Peter Jackson's first Hobbit movie was to behold, it was difficult to escape the feeling that its expansive duration was one big long tease: a setting in place of events that wouldn't properly kick into gear until the next chapter.

"If you agreed with that fairly major criticism, rest assured that it doesn't apply to The Desolation Of Smaug, which, after a brief trip to a bar to get audiences up to speed with the story, accelerates to a sprint and seldom stops." -- Den of Geek

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug releases on Dec. 13.

Watch the trailer:

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