By now, I'm assuming most of you have seen The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (or at least read the book). Knowing what we know about The Hobbit trilogy thus far, and about director Peter Jackson's track record with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I'm going to take a gigantic risk and make a few
pre-release comments and predictions about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
I don't mean I'm going to predict the future. Instead, consider this a weather forecast for the upcoming Hobbit movie. Only, without the weather...
I tried really hard not to give anything big or important away, but it is very hard to do so when writing about what I think will happen, so this post probably contains spoilers. So, you have been warned.
1. How are they all going to get down from that cliff?
Your guess is as good as mine. Although, my brother and I think Gandalf should use his magic staff to carve stone "snow boards" for them, and then they should all go snow boarding down the side of the cliff, singing, "Surfin' Middle Earth" to the tune of the Beach Boys song. However, I doubt this will happen.
2. Azog is still out there. Somewhere.
Yes, folks, our friend the Pale Orc (who should technically be long dead) isn't about to give up on his prey that easily. So, we can naturally assume he'll be back, and I'm hedging bets we'll see him and/or his cronies sometime between the opening credits and the 59 minute mark.
3. Thorin vs. Thranduil
For those of you who may be a little confused by that section title, Thranduil is the Elf King.
Anyway, in filmmaking, we have a general rule which states that if you've got a gun in the scene, it should probably be used. Elf Kings and dwarf grudges are no exception.
Even if you haven't read the book, and therefore have absolutely no idea what's going to happen in the 2nd movie, you just have to assume that the Elf King was not shown betraying the dwarves of Erebor in the Unexpected Journey introduction just to give Thorin a basis for his grudge. And we aren't told that Thorin has a particularly nasty grudge against Thranduil and his elves just because Peter Jackson thought it would be a cool addition to the story. You just know Thranduil's going to show up again sometime within the remaining two movies. And, if you've read the book, I think it's safe to assume he's going to show up in The Desolation of Smaug.
So, if we can safely assume that Thranduil is going to show up again, presumably in the 2nd movie, we can also safely assume that he's going to run into Thorin. And you just know there's going to be an argument between them. And you just know that somewhere during that argument, Thorin is going to angrily blurt out, "You didn't help my people, you jerk!" (maybe in a more Thorin-like manner, of course. If he actually says "jerk", I will not only laugh, but I won't blame Thranduil one bit for throwing Thorin in prison - oops, did I say that?)
4. Smaug
Since this second installment of The Hobbit trilogy is entitled, The Desolation of Smaug, I think it's safe to assume that we'll get to see a little more of Smaug in the movie. So, if you were angry or discouraged by the lack of visible dragon in An Unexpected Journey, take heart! Smaug has to show up sometime in the movie which bares his name. Otherwise, it wouldn't be called The Desolation of Smaug.
Concerning Smaug's lack of presence, I see where the filmmakers were coming from. Keeping Smaug (mostly) a mystery creates suspense and anticipation. Now, we're all curious, so some of us may just come back only to find out what Smaug really looks like.
But, seriously, if they maintain the mystery of Smaug for much longer, some of us in the theater are going to get irritated. We want to see the dragon! Some of us allowed ourselves to be awakened at 5:45 in the morning and be dragged to a 9 am showing to see the dragon. If there's a dragon involved, we expect to see the dragon.
Here's my theory. They're holding out on revealing Smaug until the climax. Then, his grand entrance will be even more shocking and terrifying because we will be seeing him in all of his fiery "glory" for the first time, just like the characters on the screen.
Here's my problem with that. Earlier in the story, Bilbo (wearing his invisibility-inducing Ring) has a conversation with Smaug, during which Smaug accidentally reveals his one and only weakness to Bilbo. This later becomes a determining factor during the climax, but I don't want to give things away. The only way I can see this working out is for Smaug to shake off his blanket of gold to reveal himself in full to Bilbo during their conversation. This would still have a shocking and terrifying effect on the audience because we would be seeing the only dragon in the trilogy (and the first dragon Bilbo has ever seen up close and personal) for the first time, and thus may even share some of Bilbo's emotions.
5. Will Thorin be the one to kill Smaug?
Because we know how much Thorin lost at the claws and fiery breath of Smaug, the movie-goer in me hopes Thorin will be given this honor.
However, for the sake of book-to-film accuracy, I hope I'm wrong.
6. Swords are Named for the Deeds They've Done...
...and, as we know from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Bilbo's sword does have a name: Sting. We will get to see what deed Sting did to become "Sting" in The Desolation of Smaug. Sadly, Smaug isn't involved in this.
7. Rendezvous With Spiders or Elves?
There's some speculation about whether or not Thorin will be captured by the giant spiders or will have his previously scheduled rendezvous with the elves of Mirkwood. Someone found a picture from the B-roll footage of the movie which shows the dwarves running through the Mirkwood set, and Thorin has cobwebs in his hair. I guess this is relatively easy to do when you've got 1 to 2 feet of thick, wavy hair. Anyway, this picture leads some to speculate that Thorin will not have his individual rendezvous with the elves.
However, upon closer inspection of the aforementioned picture, I realized that at least part of the cobwebs that appear to be sticking out of Thorin's head are actually on the tree behind him and only appear to be physically attached to Thorin's head. Also, we must take into consideration that Thorin has grey highlights in his 1 to 2 foot long, thick wavy hair. These highlights could easily be mistaken for cobwebs.
Here's my final and most concrete reason for believing that Thorin will stick to his previously scheduled rendezvous with the elves. Time restraints. Remember that in An Unexpected Journey they had to have Bilbo's encounter with Gollum running concurrently with the dwarves' experience, near execution, and consequent chase in Goblin Town. Also, remember that the goblins did not bind their captives simply because the filmmakers didn't have enough time in the movie to unbind them before the Goblin Town chase scene. Thus, in my mind, it is reasonable to assume that for purposes of time restraints, they will have to have Thorin's rendezvous happening concurrently with the other dwarves' capture by the spider and consequent rescue by Bilbo.
8. Does Bilbo actually get braver?
He must, because he rescues at least twelve of his companions from giant dwarf-eating spiders.
9. Is it safe to assume that Thorin might "die" again at the end of the movie?
No telling. But, it wouldn't surprise me at all. But, don't worry. Even if he does "die" again, he's got to come back for the 3rd movie.
10. Will they find the Arkenstone?
More than likely, no. Not yet...
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