Chronicles of the Chronicler: The Retrospective

The other day, I sat down and shot an interview about my YouTube series, Chronicles of the Chronicler. This is a series of episodic action-adventure themed stop-motion shorts that I've been making since 2010. They have become the most viewed videos on my YouTube channel, and been a learning experience for me in many ways. In this set of seven videos, I reflect on making the series and becoming a respected BioTuber (YouTuber who makes Bionicle-themed videos) without the intention of doing so.

Trailer Reviews - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (SPOILERS!!!)

The time has come again for another Trailer for the next film in The Hobbit trilogy, and with that comes another Trailer Review from me! I don't know about anyone else, but this is the movie coming out this year that I have been looking forward to the most. With the success of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey last year, I have high expectations for its follow-up, The Desolation of Smaug. Peter Jackson continues to deliver good-looking footage based on the book by beloved author, J.R.R. Tolkien. Just like in my Trailer Review of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, there WILL be spoilers in this review, since the movie is based on a book and the review is geared towards those who have read said book.

Firstly, here is the trailer:

There's a lot packed into just two and a half minutes. As opposed to the teaser for the previous film, which was mainly devoted to introducing the dwarves, this does less about who the main characters are... unless you're Legolas. Anyways, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is an upcoming action-adventure fantasy sequel film based on the book "The Hobbit" coming to theaters December 13, 2013. Sequel to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, it is the continuing adventures of title character Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit of the Shire, as he journeys with a company of dwarves to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their homeland and treasure from the evil dragon, Smaug. Starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

 The Trailer starts out with a shot of The Lonely Mountain. As I brightened the pictures on my computer, I noticed a boat sailing towards it that I had missed while watching the trailer the first five or six times. As we see this, we hear a voice (possibly Thranduil?) asking the question, "Where does your journey end?"

 We are then treated to shots of Erebor up close, and we see the dwarves climbing a statue, which I assume to be the path to the hidden door. Also, like I said above, when I brightened the images, I noticed even more. In this case, I see that at least one dwarf isn't climbing up on the axe like the rest. I think it's Bombur, which makes sense.

We see the ruined city of Dale, which we saw destroyed in the prologue of the previous film.

Here we have a shot of what I strongly believe to be the elf king's hall of Mirkwood. I am very intrigued and impressed by this image. The set bares strong resemblance to both Rivendell and Lorien, the other two elven realms we've seen in LOTR.

It is then we finally get a look at Thranduil, the elven king and father of everyone's favorite elf, Legolas. Admittedly we saw Thranduil briefly in An Unexpected Journey, but we didn't really get fully introduced to him.

And of course, one of The Hobbit's more memorable scenes is the barrel scene where the dwarves escape the elf king's halls by way of hiding in barrels. Depicted above is Bofur in a barrel.

Another image we see is Bilbo at the treetops of Mirkwood, seeing the blue butterflies. It is a moment for Bilbo, as at that point in the story, he and the dwarves have been lost in the forest for several days.

We get to see more barrel shots. Here is Dwalin, half out of his barrel going down a small fall.

Here's where the first added thing that I've notice comes along. It seems as though the elves are racing after and shooting at the dwarves. This did not happen in the book, but I guess it adds suspense.

And here is Mirkwood. A once green, lush forest, no overrun by darkness. We see Bilbo and company over to the right.

Oh hey, look. Legolas is in this movie. This doesn't bother me exactly, even though he was not in the book, because Legolas is the son of the king Thranduil, and given elves' immortality, it is plausible that Legolas could be there. I also see they have his eyes blue. They didn't do a good job keeping them blue in LOTR.

This one I had to think about. Once I realized what it is, I felt stupid. The Dwarves are in Beorn's house, and it seems one of the giant bears is trying to get in.

...And then there's this chick... the one that I'm sure had a lot of Tolkien fans scratching their heads and going "...huh???" I did some research, and found out that she is an original character to this movie named Tauriel. Not sure how I feel about this move. Jackson didn't add any original main characters to LOTR, and I'm assuming she's a main character if they are showing her THIS much in the trailer, and believe me, she's in it a lot more. I also learned that Jackson and fellow writers Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh added her because they "felt they needed a strong female character in the series". ...So is Tauriel Peter Jackson's answer to The Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen?

 Yep. She's a Katniss R.O. Seems legit.

The trailer treats us to a shot of the lake town, where the Dwarves stay and rest before taking the final trek to the Lonely Mountain.

And we're back to Tauriel and Legolas. This part confuses me a little bit. Is she also going to be a love interest for Legolas? Two characters who aren't in the book having their own little subplot? I smell some story padding.

 Now, finally, we get a glimpse of the Dwarven treasure. Bilbo is sliding down on it, and that's sure to set off Smaug's OCD. (Dragons know their treasure to an ounce, according to the book).

...And we're back to Dul Guldur, (forgive me if that is misspelled). This is something I knew was coming. I knew that even back as far as when the The Hobbit was being made into just two movies (and even then I was shaking my head that it was two movies). I knew that they would explore what Gandalf was doing while he was away from the dwarves.

...Speaking of Gandalf, here's basically our only shot of Gandalf. I know he's in other shots, but this is pretty much the only shot he's in that he's actually doing something (I.E. says one line).

It also appears as though the non-cannon orcs are going to attack the elves. Mr. Voldem-orc here is still chasing Thorin and Co. for revenge.

After that tangent of things not in the book, we are brought back to the actual story, and this shot made me excited. The trailer teases us with the giant spiders by giving us just enough of a look at one.

We are also treated with our first look at Bard. I'll be perfectly honest... when I first saw him, I literally thought I was looking at Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean. He looks A LOT like Will Turner.

The final collection of action clips in the trailer give me a theory. This shot depicts Legolas and Tauriel fighting orcs (in day light, no less *facepalm*) on what I believe to be the outskirts of the forest. Since we already saw the elves attacking the dwarves in the barrels in the river, perhaps how the dwarves get away involves the orcs attacking while the elves are attacking, and the elves fight off the orcs while Thorin and Co. slip away.

As the trailer closes, my favorite dwarf, Balin, delivers the most dramatic line of the trailer in response to an off-screen dwarf asking "was that an earthquake?": "That, my lad... was a dragon."

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. BUT! Before the trailer ends, there is one last major teaser:

THE DRAGON!!!! Now THAT is a great way to end a trailer, especially since they've been teasing dragon since the first film. I lightened the image up a bit and we get to see a bit more detail of Smaug.

December 13. Another contender for end-of-the-year blockbusters. A a blockbuster it shall be! Overall, I liked this trailer a lot, but was confused a bit by the middle where they focus on Legolas and Not-Katniss Everdeen. But I'm still excited and I still going to see it. Until then, we've been there, and we will go back again when The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is released.