As the lights dimmed and the audience's murmurs ceased, I sat back in my uncomfortable movie theater seat, put on my 3D glasses, and expected to witness a three hour thrill ride of fighting scenes and lots of CGI (computer graphic images). I could not have been farther from the truth.

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug", based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s popular novel The Hobbit, is the second movie ("middle chapter") of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy. It picks up right where Jackson left off in the first movie, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", as Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), the twelve dwarves, and Gandalf the Grey (Ian Mckellen) flee from the pale Orc’s, Azog the Defiler, wrath. They quickly find shelter in Beorn’s home, a man/beast who is kind enough to lend them his horses for the journey. The very next day, Gandalf leaves the company in the hands of Thorin (Richard Armitage), the dwarf King, and embarks on a short "field trip" to investigate the rumors of evil doings in Dol Guldur. The dwarves and Bilbo then must venture into Mirkwood, a dark forest with many dangers. While they try to find their way, they are captured by large spiders. Bilbo, luckily, manages to escape. Using the ring's power to his advantage, he releases the dwarves from their captors. The dwarves then, in turn, battle the countless, approaching spiders. Finally, when all hope of killing the spiders seems lost, the elves of Thranduil's kingdom arrive and rescue the dwarves. In this scene, the audience is introduced to Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), the female captain of the Mirkwood Elven guard. She is a fictional character, created by Jackson himself. Once the spiders are killed, the elves (ironically) imprison the dwarves in their kingdom. Again, with the power of invisibility given by the ring, Bilbo slips away.

While the dwarves sit inside their cells, a romantic plot between Tauriel and Kili (Aidan Turner) is hinted at when they converse about Kili's runestone and his travels. However the plot is not developed any more, when Bilbo finds a way to release everyone from eternal imprisonment and escape the Elven kingdom. Meanwhile, Gandalf discovers the Necromancer (Benedict Cumberbatch) has been preparing an Orc/Warg "army" to unleash evil unto the world. Sadly, Gandalf does not receive as much screen time as the other main characters, since the Necromancer "defeats" him and holds him prisoner.

Back to the hobbit and the dwarves. With the Orcs on their trail, they travel as fast as they can to reach the Lonely Mountain. They happen to meet a man named Bard (Luke Evans), a Laketown resident, who smuggles them into Laketown. From there on, they make their way to the the fallen kingdom of Erebor, and confront the evil dragon, Smaug (also Benedict Cumberbatch).

Overall, the movie was enjoyable and much, much better than its predecessor. While "An Unexpected Journey" focused on revealing the characters' personalities and emotions, "The Desolation of Smaug" took the audience straight into fast-paced pursuit. Although the movie has been criticized for having lengthy action scenes and not enough development of the characters and "heart", the scene known as the "barrel ride", when the dwarves and hobbit escape from Thranduil's kingdom (I won't go into too much detail or I'll spoil all the fun) was simply fascinating to watch. Even the audience could not resist from guffawing with glee.

The introduction of Tauriel, a strong female character, in the trilogy was much needed, considering the first movie was undoubtedly male-dominated. Evangeline Lilly brought feminism and true heroism to life in portraying Tauriel as a courageous and skilled Elf warrior. Not only that, the foreshadowing of a relationship between her and Kili, was a smart move made by Jackson. Both additions most definitely appealed to many female viewers who may not have enjoyed the first movie.

Even though many have slashed "The Desolation of Smaug", saying that Jackson turned the works of Tolkien into pure fan fiction, the movie was still a delightful and fun experience. And for those of you who are still unsure if the movie is worth seeing, consider this line, said by Gandalf, in "An Unexpected Journey": "I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure." So, please. Come along and join me in a breathtaking, blood-tingling, hair-raising, and mind-blowing adventure that you will certainly never forget.