The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – a sneak

Peter Jackson's preview of the sequel to the Rings prequel shows the director taking fresh liberties with

Running rings round Tolkien? … Peter Jackson on the set of The Hobbit. 

The first instalment in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, An Unexpected Journey, may not have swept the board at the Oscars or even ended up as one of the year's best-reviewed films, but audiences seemed to warm to the New Zealand film-maker's epic, expanded take on (the first third of) JRR Tolkien's gentle and breezy 1937 children's fantasy. 

At some point along the line there are going to be some very confused youngsters dipping into the 250-page book after watching all three movies and wondering what on Middle-earth happened to Radagast, Galadriel, Saruman and all that fighting, but hey … childhood's tough.

On Sunday, selected bloggers and critics were treated to a sneak online preview of footage from the next Hobbit movie: The Desolation of Smaug (pronounced with an "ow", rather than to rhyme with "Borg"). In truth, it was more of a slightly whimsical trip round the Stone Street studios in Wellington where the movies are being put together in the company of a playful Jackson and co-host Jed Brophy (Nori the dwarf). But there were more than a few hints that this middle Hobbit film will see the New Zealand film-maker continuing to "tinker with Tolkien" as he vies to deliver the action beats that drew audiences to his previous Lord of the Rings trilogy in such spectacular numbers.

I read with interest the Daily Telegraph film reviewer Robbie Collin's critique of Hollywood misogyny in the wake of Dame Helen Mirren's robust criticism of Sam Mendes at the Empire awards on Sunday (Mendes failed to mention any women while lauding his inspirations during an acceptance speech). 

Collin cited The Hobbit, which along with Mendes' Skyfall won several gongs, as one of the worst examples of "sausage fest" thinking in the film industry, but Jackson is at least trying his best to improve female representation in the movie version. Last night we got our first view of Tauriel, a character not mentioned in the book and played by Lost's Evangeline Lilly. She appears to be one of Elvenking Thranduil's bodyguards and looks to be following in the fearsome footsteps of Lord of the Rings' all-action Arwen. 

The latter, played by Liv Tyler, was a barely drawn character in Tolkien's version, but received multiple lines and a spectacular scene in which she singlehandedly brings down several Nazgul in Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring.

Good on Collin for pointing out the male-oriented slant of The Hobbit then, but worth mentioning that Jackson is working with problematic material. There are not that many well-drawn female characters in the original texts.

Also shoe-horned into The Desolation of Smaug (just as Frodo Baggins popped up unexpectedly in An Unexpected Journey) is Orlando Bloom's silken-tressed Legolas, who will be seen discussing the arrival of the dwarves in Mirkwood with dear old dad, Thranduil. Might he also meet Bilbo at some stage? One would lay money on it, as Jackson will surely want to ensure this is more than a cameo. 

The new Elven kingdom, by the way, resembles a less sparkly take on Lothlorien. Gnarly trees form passageways through the sky, the foliage dark and twisted to reflect the lesser status of the pointy-eared people who live there and the presence of the evil Necromancer in the nearby tower of Dol Guldur.

Further into The Desolation of Smaug and our first glimpse of Luke Evans's Bard the Bowman, given no more than a few lines in the book but here upgraded to an enigmatic Aragorn-meets-Robin Hood-style figure who could turn out to be hero or villain. 

Those who have read Tolkien's novel will know how that turns out. Jackson's Bard seems to join Bilbo and the dwarves as they make their way up the river from Esgaroth to the Lonely Mountain – another tinkering, to my mind.

Any mention of Lake-town should remind you that Stephen Fry takes on the role of the settlement's Master. Jackson has given the British thesp a horrible long-haired comb-over that serves to signpost the character's tricksy, ill-natured temperament. It looks like a role with some bite for an actor who is clearly enthusiastic about his involvement. 

Fry posted an extended video message, which Jackson allowed to run in the background throughout the one-hour presentation, occasionally cutting back to the still-waffling actor with cruel comments about his colleague's lamentable loquaciousness.

Tolkienistas will want to know if we'll get to see the White Council driving the Necromancer out of Dol Guldur in The Desolation of Smaug. 

Jackson was keeping tight-lipped, but when asked via tweet whether the Benedict Cumberbatch-voiced villain would have much of a part to play in the film, he replied simply: "Yes." We did get a segue in which Gandalf hooks up with Radagast to discover that the Nazgul have escaped from their tombs and may be wandering the wild again, another nice little teaser for the events of Lord of the Rings.

Cumberbatch is also playing Smaug himself in the new film, but there was not so much as a glimpse of the great wyrm. Instead, Jackson teased us with bogus artwork that seemed to be swiped from How to Train Your Dragon, and something that looked like a T Rex with wings. The real Smaug will presumably look rather different.

But then this is Jackson's take on The Hobbit, and given his past record for Middle-earth meddling it must be said that all bets are off. Don't be surprised if Gollum turns up again as the dragon's sidekick, nestling in the bloated folds of his lizardly master's skin like Jabba the Hutt's gruesome pet in Return of the Jedi. 

Or perhaps Aragorn and Boromir will inexplicably show up at the Battle of Five (now renamed Six) Armies. You wouldn't put it past them.