I saw The Desolation of Smaug and there are spoilers in here.
Spoilers, Sweetie.
--I would climb Richard Armitage like a tree. Like. a. tree.
--Luke Evans. Wow. He was great, and idk what it was but he really made Bard alive for me in a way that didn't really happen in the book. (That I recall. Mind, it's been ten plus years since I read it. But Philip Seymour Hoffman did the same for Plutarch in Catching Fire, so.)
--I've never really been attracted to a dragon before, but. Well. Here we are.
--Needs more Lee Pace WHO WAS GREAT. Kili said something about, "That's some party going on," and I was quietly convulsing with laughter in my seat because Party!Thranduil.
--That said, even though I feel that some stuff they're stretching to get three movies (I mean, obviously they are, but in some places it was really obvious) I don't mind the extra stuff per se. I like the thing with the Necromancer and seeing where Gandalf has hared off to, it really puts The Hobbit into context of the bigger arc (Sauron's return) and I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to one day (er. Two days) watch them in chronological order.
--Tauriel. Much reviled beforehand, but was it worth it? Eh. I actually like her by herself, I think she was an awesome character and THANK GOD, THERE WAS A WOMAN ON SCREEN WHO WAS DOING SOMETHING KICKASS. I didn't even mind the love interest sort-of angle for Legolas too much. Like, whatever. I'm over it. But the love... whatever-angle by adding Kili? I'm baffled. I like that she provided a voice against Thranduil's isolationism. I know he has his reasons and I'm not invalidating them but she is also very perceptive to see that this evil has gone unchecked outside too long and it won't be that far off when it'll consume them all. I don't think Legolas could have reasonably filled this place (idk where I saw that "why didn't they just have Legolas" argument but I saw it somewhere), at least not given where his character arc in LOTR proper starts. So, I liked her inclusion, if not necessarily her function in the story sometimes. (Evangeline Lilly was great, the role could have gone really narmy really fast but I think she sold it.)
--I liked when Gimli got a mention. Yay Gimli. XD
--I liked the effect of the fire building in Smaug's belly. That was really cool, it's just one of those details you wouldn't necessarily think about.
--I LOVED the credits song. Maybe even more than the Song of the Lonely Mountain and I'm fing obsessed with that song.
--I would climb Richard Armitage like a tree. Like. a. tree.
--Luke Evans. Wow. He was great, and idk what it was but he really made Bard alive for me in a way that didn't really happen in the book. (That I recall. Mind, it's been ten plus years since I read it. But Philip Seymour Hoffman did the same for Plutarch in Catching Fire, so.)
--I've never really been attracted to a dragon before, but. Well. Here we are.
--Needs more Lee Pace WHO WAS GREAT. Kili said something about, "That's some party going on," and I was quietly convulsing with laughter in my seat because Party!Thranduil.
--That said, even though I feel that some stuff they're stretching to get three movies (I mean, obviously they are, but in some places it was really obvious) I don't mind the extra stuff per se. I like the thing with the Necromancer and seeing where Gandalf has hared off to, it really puts The Hobbit into context of the bigger arc (Sauron's return) and I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to one day (er. Two days) watch them in chronological order.
--Tauriel. Much reviled beforehand, but was it worth it? Eh. I actually like her by herself, I think she was an awesome character and THANK GOD, THERE WAS A WOMAN ON SCREEN WHO WAS DOING SOMETHING KICKASS. I didn't even mind the love interest sort-of angle for Legolas too much. Like, whatever. I'm over it. But the love... whatever-angle by adding Kili? I'm baffled. I like that she provided a voice against Thranduil's isolationism. I know he has his reasons and I'm not invalidating them but she is also very perceptive to see that this evil has gone unchecked outside too long and it won't be that far off when it'll consume them all. I don't think Legolas could have reasonably filled this place (idk where I saw that "why didn't they just have Legolas" argument but I saw it somewhere), at least not given where his character arc in LOTR proper starts. So, I liked her inclusion, if not necessarily her function in the story sometimes. (Evangeline Lilly was great, the role could have gone really narmy really fast but I think she sold it.)
--I liked when Gimli got a mention. Yay Gimli. XD
--I liked the effect of the fire building in Smaug's belly. That was really cool, it's just one of those details you wouldn't necessarily think about.
--I LOVED the credits song. Maybe even more than the Song of the Lonely Mountain and I'm fing obsessed with that song.