10 Reasons You Should Give The Hobbit A Second Chance
7. Smaugs Design
When someone's going to see a film adaptation of The Hobbit, the biggest question on their lips will be "what's the dragon look like?" Peter Jackson knew this and managed to build half his trilogy around the growing expectation; An Unexpected Journey teased Smaug at various points, showing little more than a tail and an eye, while The Desolation Of Smaug managed to keep the fire-drake in the shadows for the entirety of its marketing campaign. While this made the second entry in the trilogy a must-see - finally we'll get to see Smaug - it also amped up expectations and with it the possibility of disappointment. We needn't have worried. As the film slowly revealed the Benedict Cumberbatch-voiced behemoth, it became apparent that this is a meticulously designed beast. With no front legs (so technically he's a wyvern) and a spindly neck, Smaug is a totally inhuman, making him unique in the world of Middle Earth (even Sauron was humanoid). Although there's really only generic competition, Smaug is one of the best dragons ever but on screen, both invoking the conventional design from the book's illustrations and offering an interesting divergence (just look at the colour of his scales).
