In my brief skitter through YouTube at the weekend, I stumbled across this gem of a video. As some of my longer followers might remember, back in July, I reviewed the Hobbit. So, while still fresh in my mind, I came across this gem from Hello Future Me, an animation of the part of the story where Smaug is killed by Bard.
I haven’t seen the second or third Hobbit movies, so I had to hunt for a video to compare it to. I’ve included the footage… but I’m not sure it as as compelling. I mean, the villain even gets to monologue.
When I saw the animation by Hello Future Me, I knew that I had a higher opinion of it than the first installment of the Hobbit. This is despite the fact that I have reread the Hobbit as recently as May of this year. I think part of the reason why is that the stakes are not so convoluted in the animation – the movie cuts from one conflict to another with Bard’s son somehow involved. There is no Thrush either, a character who relays Bilbo’s findings about Smaug to Bard, and this the main protagonist has some agency in the death of the dragon. Why do I find the film disingenuous where the animation works so much better?
Who do you think did this better, Jackson or Tolkien? Let me know in the comments below.
Imagine Erratically 