Holy dragon scales! They DO get all the way into the mountain!
I'm excited— although a little disappointed in the barrel escape, which looks to be a little too much of a raft ride (still, a bunch of closed up barrels floating in a river would probably be a lot less exciting visually than it seems in the book…).
So, wait, who is Bard— was that Orlando Bloom???
I think the point of the Mirkwood elves basically being called out of isolationism is an interesting bit, and in line with Tolkien's themes in The Lord of the Rings, and in keeping with Gandalf's tale in the Appendices. So, though that's not in the book, I don't have a problem with it. After all, Gandalf's whole point in including Bilbo in Thorin's troop was indeed to try and build common cause among the disparate "free folk" of the West for the war he knew was coming. And in the book, Bilbo is the one who sends the ripples through the peoples he encounters, acting as the link to bring them together in the end. So it's thematically appropriate.
And the visuals are fantastic— Smaug looks terrific…
"Was that an earthquake?"
"No, lad. That— was a dragon."
