TIME declares The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug one of its top 10 films of the year

at 5:38 pm by - December 4, 20135:38 pm by Demosthenes

Over the past week or so, various press screenings for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug have been occurring all over the globe. Strictly speaking, everyone (including several TORn staffers) is supposed to be under embargo and NDA until December 8 at 12.01am PST, but in a clever (and seemingly successful!) work-around, TIME magazine has dropped the film in at the number 10 spot on its top films of the year.

So what did they have to say about the film? It’s a teeny bit spoilery, and actually quite complimentary.

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Here it is.

Who could guess, after the meandering first feature in a seemingly unnecessary eight-hour trilogy of films based on a novel of less than 300 pages, that Peter Jackson had such a vigorous and thrilling middle episode in store? With Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the dwarves finally done with introductory dawdling, they dive into a nonstop adventure among the noble Elves, the rough-hewn humans of Laketown and the ferocious dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch). This time, Andy Serkis has not lent his presence to Gollum, but his work as second-unit director is spectacular. Each complex encounter, especially a flume-ride escape of the dwarves, boasts a teeming ingenuity of action and character. A bonus: the budding romance of the warrior Elf Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) and the dwarf hunk Kili (Aidan Turner). In all, this is a splendid achievement, close to the grandeur of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films.

Read TIME’s complete Top 10 list here. TheOneRing.net’s first staff reviews of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will debut on December 8 at 12.01am PST.