《霍比特人2》：期許續(xù)集的完美

導讀：2月末，《霍比特人2：史矛革之戰(zhàn)》登陸內地，首映3日票房便輕松突破2億元，遠遠超過去年《霍比特人1》的首周末內地票房成績。而作為《魔戒》前傳的第二部，其魅力何在?作為一部魔幻巨制，該片又有哪些不足呢?

Last year’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — the prequel to the trilogy The Lord of the Rings — was quite a success at the box office (it reached about $1 billion, or 6.09 billion yuan, worldwide). But honestly, it was a little boring and, at 169 minutes, very long.

作為“指環(huán)王三部曲”前傳，去年的一部《霍比特人1：意外之旅》票房大賣(全球票房達10億美元，合60.9億元人民幣)。但說實話，這部片子有點無聊，169分鐘，太冗長了。

The second part of the trilogy The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a little less long and a little less boring. That’s because after almost three hours of setup in the last installment, we finally get some action. It’s time for the group of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and the 13 dwarfs, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), to win back the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

“霍比特人三部曲”第二部——《霍比特人2:史矛革之戰(zhàn)》則稍微精簡有趣一些。 經(jīng)過第一部近三個小時的鋪墊之后，我終于可以大飽眼福，欣賞下動作戲了。這回，比爾博•巴金斯(馬丁•弗里曼飾)與由“矮人王”索林•橡木盾(理查德•阿米蒂奇飾演)帶領的十三矮人軍團，以及巫師甘道夫(伊恩•麥凱倫飾演)一同展開旅程，重新奪回孤山矮人王國。

Director Peter Jackson throws us right into the action, with the group fighting giant spiders, orcs, and the biggest villain, Smaug, the dragon.

在導演彼得•杰克遜的執(zhí)導下，巨型蜘蛛、半獸人以及“大反派”巨龍史矛革悉數(shù)登場，群斗場景令觀眾猶如身臨其境。

The battles are visceral, physical and sometimes also funny. They demonstrate the best of the film’s technical excellence: Imaginary creatures come to life, fantastic worlds are realized, and breathtaking sequences prove what an accomplished action director Jackson has become.

這些戰(zhàn)爭場面在帶給人們激烈的感官體驗的同時，偶爾也會笑料百出。這些場景都展現(xiàn)出該片在技術上的絕對優(yōu)勢：鮮活的怪獸精靈、逼真的奇幻世界，再加上險象環(huán)生的驚險劇情，都證明了彼得•杰克遜是位有才華的動作片導演。

Smaug looks incredible and Benedict Cumberbatch’s voice adds to the creepiness and horror. Of course, Smaug’s monologue with Baggins is a highlight, although the film spends nearly a half hour with monotonous would-be action of little consequence before coming to a hasty end.

巨龍史矛革看上去很是嚇人，而這個令人戰(zhàn)栗的龐然大物則由“卷福” 本尼迪克特•康伯巴奇來配音。盡管片中用了接近半個小時的篇幅來展現(xiàn)一些無關緊要、單調乏味的動作戲后，就草草收場了，但不管怎么說，史矛革與巴金斯的對手戲還是一大亮點。

For fans of special effects and quality action sequences in a fantasy setting, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a perfect choice. But compared with any chapter of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it feels a little empty.

對于特效迷和科幻動作迷來說，《霍比特人2:史矛革之戰(zhàn)》是個絕佳選擇。但同“指環(huán)王三部曲”的任何一部相比，該片都顯得有些蒼白。

The Lord of the Rings trilogy was about more than just action and incident. It talked about friendship and courage, and the characters often captured our hearts. The Hobbit falls short on character work and story development, without offering a real reason for us to care if Baggins and the dwarfs succeed in their journey.

“指環(huán)王三部曲”中，不只有刀光劍影和意外頻發(fā)。它探討了友誼和勇氣的主題，而片中角色也極具感染力。“霍比特人”系列則在角色刻畫以及劇情發(fā)展方面表現(xiàn)得差強人意，無法給我們提供一個去關注巴金斯和矮人軍團此行成功與否的真正理由。

That said, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is already better than The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Hopefully the final chapter next year can pull out something truly spectacular, otherwise The Hobbit trilogy will likely be remembered only as a footnote to one of the greatest cinematic accomplishments of our time.

即便如此，與《霍比特人1：意外之旅》相比，《霍比特人2:史矛革之戰(zhàn)》要好得多了。希望明年的最終篇能夠交上一份更令人叫好的答卷，否則“霍比特人三部曲”很可能只會成為當代最偉大的銀幕巨制——“指環(huán)王系列”的一處注腳而已。