The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - 9 Reasons It Deserves To Be Remembered Fondly

6. Riddles in the Dark

To be fair the general consensus is that Andy Serkis' Gollum steals any film that he's in so I'm not winning any points for this one. The Two Towers wouldn't have been the same without the inner confrontation between 'Gollum' and 'Smeagol' and Return of the King's best scenes come from Smeagol's devious plan to kill Frodo and Sam. It is therefore unsurprising that the Riddles in the Dark Sequence - perhaps the most iconic from the novel is the highlight of the film. The direction and performances are exceptional, made all the more impressive by the fact that this was the first scene filmed featuring Martin Freeman as Bilbo. The chapter in the novel is a real oddity, two characters playing a game of Riddles is not the basis for an instantly enthralling drama, even less so in the case of a film. In both cases, however the most is made of the scene. The film makes good use of the dual personalities in Gollum's head to hilarious and terrifying results. Even more exciting for me was the inclusion of a short description from the book. 'He was Gollum€”as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes. He had a boat, and he rowed about quite quietly on the lake; for lake it was, wide and deep and deadly cold. He paddled it with large feet dangling over the side, but never a ripple did he make.' I was thrilled to see this on screen for it had terrified me as a child, Gollum's wraith-like existence is all the more sinister because of it. This scene is loyal, taking from and adding to the original, iconic game.