Awesome / The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Desolation of Smaug

Spider: Curses! Where is it?!
Bilbo: [removes his ring] Here.

Spoilers Off applies to all "Moments" pages, so all spoilers are unmarked.

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• As soon as Thorin starts to tuck into his meal at the Prancing Pony in Bree, he realizes he's being marked by a series of bounty hunters who have come for his head. Just as Thorin is about ready to draw his sword in retaliation, Gandalf suddenly appears and joins Thorin at his table, sending the would-be assassins scrambling out of the pub. Gandalf the Grey sent a bunch of thugs running by sitting down to enjoy a meal.
  Gandalf: (smiles) Mind if I join you? (aside to the waitress) I'll have the same.
  • He also mentions while showing Thorin the bounty on his head that he received it from some "unsavoury characters".
    Gandalf: They mistook me for a vagabond.
    Thorin: I imagine they regretted that.
• Beorn being so terrifying that a whole band of orcs who were perfectly willing to attack an elven stronghold are afraid to attack him.
• Bilbo saving the dwarves from the spiders, then the elves, and then figuring out the riddle/Prophecy Twist to find the entrance to the mountain. They would have been screwed several times over, if not for the "burglar".
• Bombur during the barrel chase sequence.
  • That entire sequence in general, really. Special mention must be given to Legolas. Not only does he manage to effortlessly and completely accurately headshot orcs, but he manages to do it while balancing on top of dwarves' heads while he's hurtling down a river. Even when a rock is jutting out of the water, he manages to do a graceful twirl while simultaneously fending off and sending out attacks. It reminds us once again that there's a reason why Legolas was chosen to be part of the Fellowship.
  • The dwarves for their part successfully fend off the orcs' attack despite the disadvantage of being in barrels washed down a violent current. They display excellent teamwork, taking the orcs' weapons and then tossing them to each other when needed. There's one moment where Bifur, Thorin and Dwalin hack at a log one after the other while passing under it, making it snap in half and drop the orcs on top into the water.
  • Kili actually slipped a knife past his Extended Disarming sequence earlier.
  • In its pacing, frenetic energy and over-the-top nature it's the fantasy equivalent of the freeway battle scene from The Matrix Reloaded.
  • A CMOA goes to one random orc who gets the drop on Legolas during that sequence and coming this close to cutting him down. And then Thorin steals the moment right out from him by saving Legolas with a thrown axe through the orc's head. The orcs aren't killing anyone if he can help it, thank you very much!
    • Bonus points for generating this utter dumbfounded WTF look on Legolas's face. It's nice to see him brought down a peg.
• Considering the early concerns whether a Canon Foreigner would be able to "keep pace" with the classic book characters, all of Tauriel's action scenes are awesomely performed by Evangeline Lilly. She shoots arrows while running, parkouring and sliding at lightning pace, and is terrifying in close quarters with her knives.
  • Managing to shoot an arrow aimed at Legolas out of the air with her own arrow certainly earned her chops as an Action Girl.
  • The commentary reveals that Lilly herself did much more of her own stunts than you might think.
• Kíli soldiering on all the way to Laketown and then some after being shot in the thigh with a Morgul arrow - the same type of fell blade that instantly drops Frodo like a bag of rocks when he's stabbed with one in The Fellowship of the Ring.
  • Actually, a Morgul Blade poisons one's body and soul, and turns you into a Ringwraith, whilst a Morgul ARROW only poisons one's body over an extended time, inflicting severe suffering. But nevertheless, this dwarven child, although old by human standards, took half a barrel ride, then another one, and stood, jogged, ran, and fought on his own like a champ despite that pain! "...the line of Durin would not be so easily broken" indeed.
• Bard, a mortal man, rivalling Legolas in accuracy by shooting objects out of the dwarves' hands.
  • Bard practically has the run of Laketown, despite the Master's eye on him, with spies everywhere. Yet he still manages to sneak thirteen dwarves and a hobbit into town, all while jauntily waving at the spies trailing him.
  • The Master of Laketown is concerned that Bard could lead an uprising. Given the way he gets away with bringing a boatload of illegal fish into town, as well as the fairly impressive weapons cache hiding under his doorstep, he's not wrong.
  • Bard turning around a threat from Alfrid, pointing out that while the Master knows where he lives, it's a small town, and he knows where the Master lives as well.
  • Bard figuring out who Thorin is, and single-handedly trying to stop him from going to the mountain. And, when that fails, helping Kili despite the trouble he's about to cause. Of all the characters in the entire trilogy (and The Lord of the Rings), he's the only one apart from hobbits to be an ordinary bloke, forced into heroism by circumstance.
• We get a flashback where Girion, the last King of Dale, repeatedly tried to bring Smaug down by shooting ballista bolts at him even as the dragon destroyed his city, refusing to give up and fighting until the moment he died. Thorin and the Master of Laketown consider this an abject failure considering he didn't manage to kill Smaug, and the legend actually says that he missed every arrow, but he probably came closer than anyone ever has to actually doing it. And furthermore, he made it that much easier for his descendant, Bard, to finally succeed. Girion is actually even more badass when you think about it. One, he never missed a shot. Two, every shot hit the same scale. It just took three shots to get the thing off since Smaug is so tough. Three, when Bilbo sees the missing scale and remarks that the legend of the black arrows is true, Smaug flips his lid. Girion may have failed, but Smaug was one shot away from death and he knows it. When you manage to not only hurt a dragon the size of a city block, whose power and evilness is second only to Sauron, but actually instill in him lasting fear, you qualify as a badass.
• Gandalf single-handily infiltrates Dol Guldur, and boldly commands the evil within to reveal itself. What happens when it finally does? We get to see Gandalf taking on Sauron himself in a magic duel. And while he's defeated, Gandalf does manage to hold off Sauron for a surprising length of time.
  • Likewise, everything regarding Sauron. He initially appears as a mass of evil, tendril-like smoke, and then appears in his armor-form, while also on fire. Then the fire spreads, forming the Lidless Eye with Sauron as the center, the theme of Minas Morgul blasting at full volume. Much like his first appearance, he completely stole the show.
• In the Extended Edition, Gandalf also fends off a sneak attack from a ring-sickened Thrain before curing him of his madness. He then dispels an illusion of vines on a wall being writhing snakes with a rap of his staff.
• Azog sneak-attacks Gandalf and forces him to retreat. Despite being just an orc and not having any kind of magical/supernatural powers, Azog is one of the strongest antagonists in the entire Middle-Earth film saga. When Peter Jackson said that he modeled Azog after Darth Vader from The Empire Strikes Back, you can tell that he wasn't kidding; Azog is equal to the Witch-King of Angmar when it comes to sheer badassery among Sauron's lieutenants.
  • Props to Gandalf, though, for getting right back up after being hit by Azog's mace and holding him and his troops off with his magic. That same attack brought down Thorin hard in the prior film.
• When the Lonely Mountain rumbles...
  Dori: Was that an earthquake?
  Balin: That, my lad...was a dragon.
• The sheer scale and realness of Smaug's design. No suspension of disbelief was needed - the script, the voice acting, the size and scale of him - even the way he moved, all combine in a manner that was simultaneously breathtaking and terrifying. This is a Motion Capture dragon that still manages practically radiate smug malice and amused contempt until you're fully aware that the Company are nothing to him. He can crush them in an instant - but first he wants some fun.
• Most of Smaug's lines, too. Doubly so because most of them are almost straight out of the book.
  Well...thief. Where are you? Come now. Don't be shy. Step into the light.
  My armor is iron... my teeth are swords... my claws are spears... my wings are a hurricane!
  I am King Under the Mountain!
  I...am...FIRE. I...am...DEATH!
  • Also a MOA for the sound engineers (or whoever's in charge of these things) for the alterations to Smaug's voice, which make the voice truly draconic rather than just deep.
    • Helped along by Benedict Cumberbatch, whose performance was so intense he tore his vocal cords.
  • His complete No-Sell reaction to having a ton of molten gold dumped over him! And proceeds to fly over to Laketown, while shedding the molten gold off him.
    I WILL SHOW YOU REVENGE!
• The Mexican stand-off between Smaug and Bilbo. Surrounded by mountains of gold, a scared Hobbit on one side, and one of the most dangerous dragons in the history of the world on the other. The Arkenstone between them. Bilbo is awesome simply for standing his ground at that point, while Smaug coolly ponders whether or not to just give Bilbo the Arkenstone and kill Thorin later. Then Smaug brings out his fire, and Bilbo brings out his Ring.
  • The real crowner for Bilbo is when he escapes death by invisibly running towards Smaug. Realising that he could never outrun a fireblast the size of the hall, he runs forward and hides underneath Smaug's head, out of harm's way. Quickthinking to get the idea, and nerves of steel to actually force himself to get closer to the city-obliterating monster.
  • Bilbo deserves a major CMOA for the entire conversation. He's unarmed, Smaug can smell the One Ring, he can't run, and Bilbo knows that Smaug is eventually going to grow bored and incinerate him. And yet he keeps his head, delays Smaug by complimenting him, and then manages to escape. Compare the first film, where the mere mention of Smaug made him faint. Damn.
• Having found the mummified, starved remains of their kinsfolk who were unable to escape Smaug's conquest of Erebor, and with the dragon himself bearing down on them, anyone could forgive The Company for being disheartened. Even Balin loses hope, saying that the best they can hope for is maybe reach the mines, where they'd live for another couple of days. What is the reaction of the true King Under the Mountain?
  Thorin Oakenshield: No. I will not die like this. Cowering, clawing for breath. *turns to his men* We make for the forges.
  Dwalin: He'll see us, sure as death.
  Thorin Oakenshield: Not if we split up.
  Balin: Thorin, we'll never make it.
  Thorin Oakenshield: Some of us might. Lead him to the forges. We kill the dragon. If this is to end in fire, then we shall all burn together!
• The dwarves finding the courage to enter Erebor and take on Smaug, baiting him with guerilla tactics before finally submerging him under a tidal wave of liquid, molten gold. Sure, it didn't work, but it was a valiant effort nonetheless, especially since they had to improvise several aspects of their plan literally as they went about it.
  • Thorin finally being able to face Smaug, a hundred and seventy years after he took Erebor.
    Thorin Oakenshield: Here! You witless worm!
    Smaug: YOU!
    Thorin Oakenshield: I'm taking back what you stole!
    Smaug: You will take NOTHING from me, dwarf. I laid low your warriors of old. I instilled terror in the hearts of men. I AM KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN!
    Thorin Oakenshield: This is not your kingdom! These are dwarf lands! This is dwarf gold! And we will have our revenge!
    • Before this, Balin points out that the plan won't work because they don't have any fire hot enough to set the furnaces ablaze. Thorin proceeds to taunt Smaug, calling him an old, fat slug...and then tells the others to take cover. Smaug proceeds to light the furnaces for them.
  • Thorin arriving in a room with his cloak on fire, shrugging it off with nary a sign of panic on his face, and then getting back on his feet with a simple "Let's go!" He's not The Stoic for nothing...
• The colossal solid gold statue of the last King Under the Mountain. Sure it fell apart because it wasn't given time to set properly, but for just a moment it was positively magnificent.
• Legolas is just as badass as he was in the other movies. Among his other accomplishments, he manages to headshot two orcs with the same arrow, the tip skewering the first and embedding itself in the one behind it.
  • At another point, he kills one of the orcs that attacked Bard's house and sends him flying over a ledge to land on a boat below, causing another orc on the boat to be sent flying into the air. Legolas then decapitates this orc by swinging a couple of daggers at just the right moment.
• Bolg actually coming close to killing Legolas, who up until this point in the series seemed pretty darn indestructible.
  • After failing to kill the elf, he breaks away from the fight and simply strolls away.
    • When Legolas tried to stab him in the gut, which has shown to pretty much insta-kill every orc so far, Bolg simply catches the blade, knocks him back and lets the other orcs handle him as his main goal (Thorin) wasn't there. He also made Legolas bleed! There's a reason why Azog chose Bolg to handle Thorin.
    • The entire Legolas vs. Bolg fight is a cinematic CMOA. In a film series where almost every action scene is sweeping and set to epic music, this was near-silent, intense one-on-one mortal fist fight.

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