Reviews

Although the battle between the armies itself is dramatically staged for the most part, there were times when I felt disconnected from it, not necessarily because of the onslaught of CGI characters.

That said, The Desolation of Smaug takes quite a while to get there, and as with its predecessor, it ultimately depends on whether the viewer is prepared to accept the changes and additions Jackson made from the book, appreciate the film at face value, or are prepared to grumble with disappointment.

The success and acclaim of this book led to the highly acclaimed "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which years later was transformed into one of the greatest movie trilogies of all time by Peter Jackson.

This new trilogy has faults of its own; occasionally underdeveloped new characters and at times delving a little too much into nostalgia as well as some controversial character choices that may or may not sit well with viewers.

Critics greeted the film with rave reviews, and of course the film performed well at the box office, selling about $600 million domestically, but it sparked a huge and rather nasty debate on how this film compares to the original trilogy, and whether this newest chapter charts the series in a bold n...

Ten years after the lesser Star Wars prequel trilogy wrapped up with the mostly solid if not perfect Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas' ever-popular space opera saga gets yet another trilogy in the making, this time in the hands of J.J.

The final entry of the classic Star Wars trilogy, 1983's Return of the Jedi, is often cited by many as the weak link, and perhaps it is in some ways.

Of course, the most memorable character in the movie is Yoda, the crotchety yet benign Jedi Master who takes it under himself to lead Skywalker down the straight and narrow path.

With all this, and more, it's no wonder that Star Wars's impact is still going strong, and, at the risk of causing controversy, the original trilogy can easily hold its own against some of the more cinematically complex and impressive trilogies of our time such as The Lord of the Rings, The Godfathe...

But Rogue One works as both a movie and a bridge to the opening moments of the first Star Wars movie (rebranded as Episode IV: A New Hope).