Picking up immediately after the first film, the dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf continue east. The second act is more action-driven and darker in tone. Major set pieces include:

Here’s where purists bristled. Jackson turned a few pages of travel into a full blockbuster: Mirkwood spiders, the elven king’s halls, the barrel escape, Laketown, and finally— the dragon .

The first installment introduces us to a younger, fussier Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), whose comfortable life in the Shire is upended by the wizard Gandalf and a company of thirteen dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield.