8. Smaug - The Hobbit Trilogy
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is a classic tale of short people coming together and planning a daring robbery. Also there's a dragon. Peter Jackson's ongoing adaptation of this story remains as close as possible to the source material, until of course he realised that there was a glaring lack of Legolas. The silliness of Jackson's decisions aside we're here to focus on the aforementioned mythical beast, Smaug. Fans of Tolkien's work have been clamouring to see the fierce beast on screen for years and The Desolation of Smaug certainly didn't disappoint visually. Fantastic animation and the thespian gravitas brought by Benedict Cumberbatch sealed the deal and made the gold-hungry monster a joy to behold. Dig deeper than the visual spectacle though and you'll find that there is more depth in a dwarf's flagon than in the character of Smaug. He is a glorified obstacle for the heroes to overcome, his ominous threats and fiery breath all tropes from heroic legends. Brought together it creates a giant cliché whose only purpose is to make the first fellowship's task that much more difficult. He is even ancillary to their main goal of retrieving the Arkenstone, they don't go in there planning to slay him. If Bilbo had actually managed to do his one job properly then he wouldn't have even been an issue. While it's true he seems set on destructive revenge at the end of Desolation of Smaug, the only purpose this serves is to fulfil the destiny of Bard the Bowman. When it comes down to it Smaug is merely a device within the stories of others, a problem to be solved.
