The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (spoilers under the cut)

I am writing this fresh from the movie without having read fan essays/commentary yet ok lets go

First of all, let me say that I love whatever adaptation of Tolkien's work that there is because I know that different forms of media allow for different things to happen, even if they stray from the original work. People can take creative license with whatever there is, however they want to. Whether they should is beyond my control and even concern (that is to say that I think whatever Tolkien estate/Christopher Tolkien and the producers want to do is for them to settle between themselves). 

Anyway, since I've talked about that countless times, I'm just gonna cut to the chase and say that Desolation lived up to expectations. 

I cried so much.

When the opening credits appeared, I thought alamak a tear start to leak out already

Why I cried: 

1) It was hilarious, some of the sassiest things said and done made me laugh between sobs. 

2) The character development and journeys were so satisfactory, especially for the Durins (strained laughter).

3) I remembered all the essays and speculations I read online and it was fascinating to be able to emotionally invest yourself in these characters through their journey, especially when you know their motivation and backgrounds.

4) It was so surreal watching something that I had waited all year for and knowing that it would bring me pain and joy for another year and many more to come.

I think my experience has greatly changed since reading the books and joining the fandoms, mostly for the better. I am more critical now, but there's still that fangirl inside that wants to love everything she is given. After working on tsd pieces you also kinda apply what you learn but I'm not gonna talk about that today is hobbit day

I was definitely craving for more since I waited for so long for this movie but there were some excellent parts to it and also a few things that I didn't like, but but but they were really few and not exactly plot related so...

Anyway, I'm just recapping my experience in great detail so

DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE WATCHED DESOLATION

LOTS OF SPOILERS, SPECULATIONS, PHOTOGRAPHS, IMPORTANT LINKS AND BAD PUNS UNDER THE CUT:

BEAR WITH ME 

*shifts into Beorn*

I mean bear with my fangirl speech okay I can't barely contain myself

Wow okay I'll try to arrange things in the order of what happened but I think I'll put the Dol Guldur stuff under a specific header because I cannot, for the life of me, remember the exact moments the story cut to those parts.

Holy smokes alright here we go !!!!!!!

Prancing Pony: 

What a delightful start where the short characters (are in a place where shady men with beady eyes watch them) meet the tall characters that get them into so much trouble

Meeting Beorn: 

This part made me a little sad that not much more was shown about Beorn. I held a small spark of hope that Gandalf would have introduced the dwarves two by two like he did in the book only because it was such a cute thing that happened. Even if that wasn't included, I wish there was a scene where Gandalf reasoned with Beorn into housing the dwarves :-( That being said, Beorn's recount of being tortured by orcs and the ponies flippin' their beautiful hair were enough to show why he wanted to live a peaceful life and not be disturbed (apply this concept to why the Great Eagles were not involved either) by things that were not of his concern. 

Entering Mirkwood: 

They did away with the elves having their feast in the wood, which was disappointing because I expect that must have made a beautiful scene. It would have also shown how the elves were being disturbed by the dwarves bumbling about. At the same time, it made a lot of sense to leave that out because Mirkwood was practically infested with spiders and diseases that made these feasts near impossible to have far out in the woods. I loved that Bilbo climbed the tree because it was so damn pretty with the beautiful red treetops and the blue butterflies :') The colour contrast ugh feels because of what Greenwood once was and what it is now :-(

Oh snap (geddit geddit because of the branches snapping)! Trouble in paradise

Spiders Attack: 

frick spawns of shelob spawns of ungoliath frick

OH YA And then there was a part where Bilbo dropped the ring and to reach it, he had to kill a spider. That was impactful because he was stabbing it with so much ruthlessness and desperation in his eyes that you could see the effects of the ring on this otherwise meek hobbit wow bam cinema bam ACTING

DO NOT THINK I WON'T KILL YOU DWARF: 

Swag on you leggy you go leggy mainly hyperventilated because Legolas and Tauriel and elven feet and balance. Great touch of Legolas commenting on the photograph Gloin's wife and Gimli. "THAT'S MY WEE LAD, GIMLI" had me laughing and crying because it's small things like that that get me so excited bridging the trilogies :")

Tauriel: 

Ah ha... sensitive topic for most purists... I absolutely love her character. I know that non-canon female characters face lots of debate for being in films and mostly being a love interest, but I'm so happy that Tauriel is more than that. Hold up!! I'm not saying that she cannot be a love interest and that she has to fight and be violent to count as a strong female character. She is both a bad-ass warrior and the love interest of two very (very) fine men (dwarf, elf whatever) but the thing that sticks out about Tauriel is that she does whatever she thinks is right, whatever she wants. Yes, it can be a bit reckless of her, defying Thranduil and general elvish protocol, but I'm not going to stand by Thranduil's greed, pride and isolationism either. She's not a perfect character, she's impulsive and reckless but she's also faced with odds and yet takes control of things instead of being helpless, and that makes her, at least a character with depth. So far, my impression of Tauriel is not half bad, but I'm keen to see what the third film brings for her. I love her so much!!!!!! Aaaaa check out the links at the end of the post for really good arguments for Tauriel new queen of my heart as a love interest, bad-ass she-elf and role model!!! Evangeline Lilly is the perfect portrayal of what Tauriel represents and she is stunning in real life :') okay I need to stop gushing over her. Time to move on to her boss.

Thranduil: 

Of course Lee Pace deserves his own slow camera panning with elfy music playing in the background. Nothing less than the best for Thranduil. 

Lee Pace was every bit as convincing as Thranduil as I could have asked for, the same impenetrable elven aura. Sexual tension I asked for and sexual tension I received! But the part where he closed in on Thorin was a little bit awkward because there was something wrong with the way Lee moved... hmm. The difference between Thranduil and Elrond/Celeborn/Galadriel was that they were portrayed to be more wise than he was. He was lordly but also more petty and I found that trying to combine that grace with confrontation came off a little bit more forced than it should have been :-( OH YA AND HIS FACE BURNT UP WHAT THE HECK THERE BETTER BE SOMETHING TO ANSWER TO THIS AND IT BETTER BE PAINFUL BECAUSE I WANT TO CRY MY MONEY'S WORTH

But Thranduil was good in the scenes with Tauriel and Legolas so it might have only been that scene at that awkward moment.

Tauriel,  Kili and Legolas triangle:

Oh my god oh my god I didn't know how I was going to react to the relationship between Legolas and Tauriel but I love it so much. It was just the right amount of romance between Legolas and Tauriel, because it was easily hidden beneath both their steely warrior exteriors so you don't really see any romance hit you in the face, just passive stalking from behind the pillars of Thranduil's great hall heh heh heh, Oh yes, and the fact that Thranduil makes it clear that Tauriel shouldn't give Legolas any hope just makes their romantic relationship more subtle and friendship more enviable and enjoyable (yes, even from a purely BFF/orc-killing partners stand point). Edit: also many people overlook her discussion with Legolas in this scene, which I think is important insight to her character as well as her relationship with Legolas???

I don't know how to feel about the relationship between Tauriel and Kili!!!!!! It's non-canon to the point of being horribly offensive, given the elvish-dwarvish relationship but I really don't give a hoot if it's non-canon?? It actually let me know a lot more about both characters!!! You can see the youth in both of them: Tauriel is unashamed of talking to Kili, even curious about his stone. She also talks about going out and watching the stars at night so she's definitely not a frigid elf maiden. Meanwhile, Kili is naive, but he is mostly sincere and honest, also untainted by the idea that all elves are no good. Okay, so Kili may be a little hung up on elves in general (see here), but I personally enjoyed a scene of a dwarf and an elf talking without throwing shade.

I know that one of the arguments against their relationship is that it seems to diminish the effect of the bond that Legolas and Gimli will have/had and that it just isn't helpful to the whole idea of the feud between dwarves and elves but I think it achieved the opposite. Their relationship clearly emphasises their differences and that is why it's so poignant and tragic (to me, at least).

time for feels

So I was thinking about the prison scene (transcript here) where Tauriel and Kili were talking, and the scene where Tauriel is healing him with kingsfoil and something clicked????

In the former, Tauriel, overcome by her own curiosity, talks about stars and the Eldar and how they symbolise memories. Kili on the other hand, says that he always thought the distant stars were lonely and cold, unlike what Tauriel (or elves in general) think frick THUS SHOWING HOW DIFFERENT THEY BOTH ARE

THEN LATER WHEN HE IS CLOSE TO DEATH HE TALKS ABOUT THE STARS AGAIN THIS TIME LINGERING BOTH THEIR IMAGERY: STARS AS COLD AND DISTANT LIKE TAURIEL IS AS A RIVAL SPECIES AND THEN STARS AS BEAUTIFUL AND DREAMY BUT ONLY A MEMORY OF HER???/ HEAR THAT??? that's my heart shattering 

wow give me a moment

wow I think u are thinking too much

What I didn't like about the kingsfoil scene was when Kili looked at her and she was shining in a white light? It was very unnatural and bit cheesy... But I fell apart at the shot of their hands almost touching like I liked that although I'm not a fan of fast romances so I'M HAVING MIXED FEELINGSSSS

I'm a bit feelzy from the stars thingy but I don't knOW HOW TO FEEL ABOUT THIS RELATIONSHIP!!!!

And when Kili was talking about Dis,
I was crying so hard how bout u kill me already

edit/edit/eidt!! Look at this article because I think I have my feelings sorted out for now: Tauriel and Kili are not in 'love'!!! I think I believe in this.. I need to watch the third film to decide!!!

anyway, getting back to the action........

Escaping from Mirkwood: 

Bilbo Baggins tapping his foot. That is all. Martin Freeman did a great job of Bilbo's quirky, and quick-wit.

Oh and I never thought I would see elves short of perfect, all grotty and drunk and sleeping on the job like that jeez

Anyway, a pic of the dwarfs in production SMILING look at baby Kili looking so happy!! Bet he doesn't know what's coming for him at the gates ha ha ha ha ouch 

THE BARREL CHASE WAS THE SINGLE MOST PERFECT ACTION SCENE: 

Bombur bumping about on the banks!!!!!! The weapon throwing and slashing!!!!! fruck so cool!!!!

I've experienced three movies of Legolas prancing around like a princess on his stupid perfect elven feet killing mûmakil and orcs but I will never get tired of seeing him spill blood. Not to mention how utterly perfect Evangeline Lilly was as Tauriel.

KILI GETTING THAT FRICKING WOUND: 

no

no

no

KILI AND FILI FEELS EVERYWHERE when Fili was just filled with despair at his brother's injury. I ESPECIALLY LOVE IT THAT AIDEAN IS A THING no it's not but they do their interviews and all together I just have a lot of brotp feelings

And then Thorin told the troopers to get up and going even though Kili was hurt and it so reminded me of Aragorn telling Pippin and Merry to get up (from where they were crying on the ground) after Gandalf the Grey fell in Moria???? Many feels because THIS POST

Meeting Bard and Entering Laketown: 

I really liked how things turned out at Laketown! In trying to reason out why I feel this way, I realise that maybe it's because Laketown reminds me so much of Edoras/Minas Tirith... Alfrid was like Grima Wormtongue, Master of Laketown is like Denethor and Bard reminds me of Faramir!! It has that ~once-fallen-but-will-rise~ story that I love so much, I guess

Luke Evans was so damn good omfg a perfect Bard. Just watching him and Richard act together was a dream :0

I think Bard's character is a success for me because he isn't just a hero or a smuggler but he has his own emotional baggage: his grandfather failed to save Dale, he has three kids, his whole town is so washed-up and the chief hates him. He had so much to lose by helping, and then opposing Thorin, and he did get put in jail. He is an important character and I'm so glad that his profile and role is being explored ^ ^ Another character I'm excited to see again next year :")

Leaving Kili behind: 

Oh ye fick this part made me cry so hard and it killed Sarah and I both. It was so unexpected that Thorin would leave Kili behind???????????? SO HEARTWRENCHING to see Kili hurting from not leaving for Erebor together with the rest and hurting from the poison (and he probably thought about Tauriel a lot and he must have thought that he was such a burden because Fili wanted to take care of him) Here's the transcript of tears

okay

good job with the analysis again

But this scene really hit me so hard because I wasn't expecting Thorin to cast even Bofur aside for the sake of leaving. And how did they leave Bofur sleeping off a hangover anyway!!!!!!1 Bombur and Bifur what are you guys doing!!!

Oh and here's a good part to talk about the other dwarves being further developed on! At Beorn's house, we see Dori lecturing Ori, thus bringing out respective characteristics that we never really see in the book. At Mirkwood, we also have Legolas interacting with Gloin and Gloin talking on the boat going into Laketown. I find it fascinating that you have to build the family tree backwards because we see both Legolas and Gimli's fathers (at odds, nonetheless); how different the fathers are from each other and how alike the sons are to them. Gimli sure inherited Gloin's rambling! Oh and last but not least, we see Oin sacrificing his trip to Erebor to take care of Kili, not to mention how Fili did the same with a stern "I belong with my brother" to Uncle Thorin's face.

Tauriel and Legolas heading into Laketown: 

I can never get enough of their busting orc butt they are so perfect, if not together then killing orc together. The part where he slices the orc head off in mid-flight????? Makes me think that if the Galadhrim troops weren't solely stationed at Helm's Deep and were ordered to run free on those fine reflexes of theirs, supposing all elves can do this, wow maybe Haldir would have survived. 

Entering Erebor: 

Thank you Richard Armitage for playing Thorin Oakenshield because you did a smashing good job of ripping my heart out. He was so helpless when the last ray of sunlight of Durin's day went away oh dear so fragile. The way he said "what did we miss?" while holding the runes really tore my heart open man. He had so much hope for returning to Erebor and to fail in front of his loyal men like that was devastating ugh I was crying so hard omg

then when he made it into Erebor i cried somemore omfg I cried so much because he was practically hugging the walls! You usually see Thorin being the steely leader of the gang but the moment he reached the mountain and went in, he was so overwhelmed with emotion that I could feel my heart breaking. The sensitive side of Thorin coupled with all the other dwarves' standing in the back just taking a moment (especially Balin with tears in his eyes) made sob so hard. Wow how is it possible to love this man more 

The previous movie gave Thorin lots of depth and this movie it gave him lots of emotional change. He had to make lots of important, life changing decisions like... to bring them all on this quest together, trust the people he did, get locked up and served humble pie, then leave his darling nephews at Laketown. You can actually see him changing slowly, with increasing desperation and falling into those tales of madness when he risks his own life and Bilbo's to demand the Arkenstone. Balin the wise also observes that he is not himself, which is devastating because you see this majestic hero start to disintegrate. 

Bilbo and Smaug: 

Omg their interaction was the best I enjoyed it so much!!! It was very true to what I pictured it to be and Smaug was ferocious but sassy at the same time! The ring was also taking over Bilbo and he was measured when he used it because the darker forces were taking over and I loved that they didn't forget about portraying the magic ring to it's fullest potential for a good tie in :-)

Furnace: 

I appreciated the fact that the dwarves were more aggressive in Erebor, unlike the passive sitting around and complaining that they did in the book. Their heating up of the furnaces and making everything come to life again in the great halls of Erebor not only showed that they were fighters but it was a testament to the magnificence that once was. 

Unveiling the golden statue in front of Smaug was a little confusing because I didn't know what it could have achieved... I think maybe they were hoping to freeze him or drown him in gold? Upon looking back, I like that the dwarves all tried their hardest to defeat Smaug through their own means of dowsing him in water and gold. It was a flop but whole execution was beautiful.

The Necromancer Thread: 

They took away Azog to lead in botfa and left Bolg to hunt for the dwarves instead so my guess is that some great one will slay Azog in the third film. Gandalf's venture into Dol Guldur was quite depressing because he ended up being held captive after confronting the Necromancer. GANDALF NO why did you have to do it by yourself gandalf I thought you would be better than that ;-; 

My guess is that he was trying to scout around and didn't expect Sauron to be as strong as he was, as himself and supported by armies. Well it sounds reasonable enough, like how he got himself stuck on the Orthanc. As much as I love Gandalf, I think we were all a bit tripped up and charmed by the return of the eye of Sauron, accompanied by that magnificent helm. That flashing of the eye was such a treat aw man I didn't picture myself to be siding with Sauron but

Well anyway, I had to focus a lot more on the storyline on Sauron's side because it's totally new so I'm very excited to see how this will all end. 

A couple of things I really want to know/think might happen in There and Back Again

- What happens to the four dwarves stuck at Laketown?

- How the heck are you going to resolve these Tauriel issues??
- You're gonna kill her off, aren't you?????????
- How many bucket of tears am I going to generate during Bofta the movie?
- Do we get to see Galadriel and Elrond and Saruman do some frickin bad ass stuff to deal with Sauron?????????
- Is Thranduil going to be dancing his way through the Warg packs?

- Important: How many packets of tissue do I need?

Edit: Okay so after I wrote this post, I hounded the #thehobbit tag on tumblr to look for fan reactions/fan reviews/fan essays about Desolation of Smaug and these are the essays relevant to what I am feeling. They've brought up really important things to consider although I might not agree with everything!! Highly highly recommend you read them but they are full of spoilers!! (All are great , thought-provoking reads but I've selected four vvv important ones to be read)

A bunch of stuff:

Theories about Thranduil and his injury and why it makes him a complex character (good!)
Bilbo and the influences of the Ring
Richard Armitage about filming the opening of the hidden door on Durin's Day
The Hobbit is 'Unfilmable' + a little bit about Tauriel and Thorin (Important!)
Ringwraith theme played during Azog's scene
Stop being angry 

Tauriel:

Tauriel is (not) a Mary-sue
Tauriel having/being a love interest does NOT make her weak
'Thankful for Tauriel in Hobbit Tale' (feminist article)
Tauriel followed her feelings
Tauriel and Kili work well as characters alone and together

Kili:
Kili's possible character development without a love triangle  (good!)

Kili's innocence 

Kiliel:

'More Things I Love About Kiliel'
Tauriel and Kili are not in 'love': What their mutual attraction means (Important!)
This person really adores Kiliel

ok enough of the angsty things!!!! Here are some hilarious videos:
Cast sing All I Want For Christmas
'Gandalf' interviews Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch

Finally, I would like to give thanks to the stupid amazing cast members for their cuteness and amazing acting, special mention to Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, Martin Freeman and Evangeline Lilly. They have all given me hours of entertainment in gifsets, videos and interviews

ok that's all from me thank u for reading