Things are revving up for the Winter Movie Season, and with the build-up of excitement comes some new trailers. In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the latest trailer for The Hobbit 2: How Not To Train A Dragon… I mean The Desolation of Smaug.

What we learn from this trailer:

1. Wizards and elves age backwards.  In The Once and Future King by T.H. White, Merlin ages backwards. Apparently, this also applies to Middle Earth’s wizards and elves – Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, Saruman, and even Legolas all age backwards. Maybe Benjamin Button is a wizard too.

2. Sequels mean more spiders. And while these spiders may not be as massive as Aragog of Harry Potter or Shelob of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (The Two Towers in the books, The Return of the King in the movies), there will be more of them. What’s more gross and frightening than one spider? Lots of spiders.

3. Dragons have special effect modifiers on their voices to make them more rumbly. – And, Smaug may actually be an alternate dimension version of Khan, or a morphed version of Sherlock. Perhaps Watson has just posed as Bilbo Baggins in order to try to free Sherlock from his transformation into a big, scary dragon.

4. Every story needs at least one booty-kicking lady. Since The Hobbit as a book is light on female characters, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Phillippa Boyens decided to add a random lady-elf. Apparently, she needs to carry both Arwen’s role as the female in a hopeless romance, and Eowyn’s role as a strong, booty-kicking lady. Whether the character works or not, I appreciate having a strong female chracter on screen.

5. The Special Effects will continue their journey along the Uncanny Valley – I don’t know if its the high-frame-rate, or a broader use of CG, but the first Hobbit movie had many moments that fell into the Uncanny Valley (where a false thing appears almost real, to the pointo f being uncomfortable for the viewer). Based on the trailer alone, the journey through this valley will continue. This goes against one of the great things about the Lord of the Rings Trilogy – all of the CG is combined with sets and models, creating what appears to be fully real. Hopefully, the third Hobbit will be better.

6. Bilbo will get very, very dirty. – If he had remembered to read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy before leaving, Arthur Dent would have known to bring a towel. This would have prevented many difficulties.

7. There will be a lot of explosions – Dragon attack! Potential wizard battleness! Exploding spiders – you know what, scratch that third one. I don’t think anyone needs to see that.

8. There will be more running! – Chase scenes can be exciting. I am concerned, because about 2/3 of the first movie were chase scenes. I think it is time to fill the story with something else.

9. The third movie will probably be a 3 hour battle – at least, based on how much of the story the second movie appears to cover. The final battle in the book is exciting, and has many elements and details. However, there is little more to the last section of the book itself – a little bit of intrigue. I am sure, however, that Peter Jackson will make it HUGE and EPIC.

10. Similarly to the first movie, the trailer could be cut in half and still tell the same story – see TV spot below:

What do you think? Are you excited for The Desolation of Smaug? Did you enjoy the first Hobbit movie, or are there things you are still hoping for? If you were to hang out with a Martin Freeman character, would you rather hang out with Watson, Bilbo, or Arthur Dent? Do you wish you were a wizard and could age backwards?

SIDE NOTE:

Recently, the original trailer for Star Wars was posted on Youtube. Mom said the radio ad had the same sound, which is why she was wary when Dad dragged her to see it. After the first time, the went back to the theater about 5 times – while still on a student budget.

And thus my destiny of loving the Star Wars Universe began… before I was born…

Star Wars

SIDE NOTE 2:

Last Saturday I won 3rd place at the Division E Humorous Speech Contest for Toastmasters – this is the third level, meaning I won first at  the previous two rounds. It was a lot of fun, and I want to thank my friend Kristina for being my groupie.

My trophy display at the restaurant afterwards.

I learned a lot about Toastmasters from the sign leading into the building.

My trophy display at work, also known as my computer tower.