I was pretty disappointed at how quickly they killed Smaug off in the movie. Apart from that the movie was great, it's just a shame there wont be anything coming from the LoTR/Hobbit Franchise for a while (If ever).
Smaug had to die for the five armies to battle because "Smaug alive: Y/N" was a major factor in the "do you want to try invade the lonely mountain" flowcharts of several factions.
How I hate the whole deranged series ... As long as people have fun with it, I guess, but I can't stand the degradation of LotR into the movies.
I watched the first one. It sucked. Hobbit is a book, shorter than any of the Lotr ones. And it got split into 3 parts. Obvious cash grab, but I still watched the first one, thinking they will include some good original stuff. Nope. 40 minutes wasted watching dwarves eat, with that ridiculous scene of dwarves cleaning the dishes. The wizard with the rabbit sledge was ridiculous. The escape from goblin town and the goblin king too. Too much CGI. I thought they were going the Lotr route, turns out even grass was CGI. Why not just make a cartoon? After I heard they brought in Legolas for the second one, I didnt bother with it, nor will I with the third one. Its like they wanted to cram in as many lotr references as they could. I just wish I hadnt read the book when I was little, maybe I could enjoy it more.
songs were a big part of the hobbit book. the only songs they managed to work into the movie were when the dwarves were at bag end. one of the scenes you liked the least. that song (and the snow white style of some of the dwarves) represent the only effort to bring in the 'kids fairy tale' feel that the book had.
