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The second installment of "The Hobbit" opens this week. And while "The Desolation of Smaug" is visually impressive, it suffers from its nearly three-hour length. The book,

which preceded the "Lord of the Rings" series, just doesn't have enough in its 150 pages to warrant nine hours of screen time over three movies.

Great movie trilogies are rare. Three films is a lot of time to be emotionally invested in the same characters. And too often, trilogies feel like an industry money grab.

 series. In these spaghetti western flicks, Eastwood's character wanders through a twisted Wild West with his own ideas of morality. There's no emotion to Eastwood's character; he's essentially living for himself. It's a great trilogy because each movie gives the audience exactly what it wants.

 trifecta. The slapstick humor is endearing, but what really makes all three movies great is that we care about the characters. All three movies made tons of money at the box office. But it really felt like Pixar was trying to enchant generations of Americans, not just cash in.

While others take a decent idea and drive it into the ground:

So what do you think? What other trilogies deserve praise, and which don't?

Arts and Culture

State of the Arts Blog

Stephanie Curtis

Author

Three Hobbit movies? Not so great. What other trilogies deserve praise, and which don’t?

‘The Hobbit’ does not make a great trilogy, but these films do

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