The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

 Is the second enty in The Hobbit trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug, better than An Unexpected Journey?
Yes, yes and more yes; provided you watch it in 2D or 3D only.
We pick up where An Unexpected Journey left off, with the company of dwarves, led by Thorin (Richard Armitage), and their Hobbit "burglar" Bilbo Baggings (Martin Freeman) continuing their quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain.
Gandalf the Grey (Sir Ian McKellen) takes off on his own (again) despite promising to accompany the group (again). He leaves after finding "black speech graffiti" near the entrance to Mirkwood and promptly abandons the group to investigate and follow up on his suspicions.
It is from this sequence the pieces to the Lord of the Rings puzzle begin to fall into place, as we see the rise of the Necromancer and his orc army, the effect the one ring has on it's possessor (Bilbo in this instance), and Gandalf uncovers a horrible truth.
We meet new characters like Bard (Luke Evans), from Lake-town, who helps the dwarves on their quest. At the same time we are reintroduced to Legolas (Orlando Bloom) albeit a 60 year younger version than the one we met in Lord of the Rings. But it's the inclusion of Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) that has ruffled the most feathers.
Tauriel doesn't actually exist in the novel. In fact, Legolas doesn't either.
Their inclusion is merely a production decision made by Peter Jackson and crew.
I'm not the biggest fan of movie-makers or writers changing the content of novels in their adaptations and to invent characters is  beyond ludicrous. But I can see why they did it, and I think it works in this setting. Legolas helps the audience engage with the elves - his presence helps us be more familiar with them - and Tauriel is woven masterly into the story. Her relationship with the dwarf Kili present an unexplored dynamic to the story given the loathing between dwarves and elves. It is an intriguing change of which I'm looking forward to seeing the conclusion.
Another I had was how long the sequences with Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) were dragged out. I readily admit I haven't read the novels, and I am certain the dragon has dialogue in the texts, but it got a little old - perhaps a tad daft - after a while.
That is only a minor complaint but one that I'm sure is easy to get over.
My biggest gripe is, similar to An Unexpected Journey, is the high frame rate version.
My first experience with it came in the first part of the Hobbit trilogy but it was watching The Desolation of Smaug where it really had a detrimental effect.
The familiar cinematic feel is completely gone, which remarkably reduces how "real" I believed what I was seeing. It was too real to believe they were in Middle Earth. In some scenes where the whole group were involved, it looked as if you were sitting next to the director's chair and watching the actors acting rather than immersing oneself in the fictional world.
The glaringly obvious section was at the entrance to Mirkwood, when the company are just about to walk in. You could tell where the natural trees and surrounding environment ended and the set dressing began. It takes away from the whole experience and is an issue I hope is addressed before There and Back Again (the third part) is released at the end of this year.
The Desolation of Smaug is much better than An Unexpected Journey, but there is room for much improvement when There and Back Again is released.