The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug the Talkative and Long-Winded

For those of you who recall, although I really looked forward to the first Hobbit movie adaptation (An Unexpected Journey), I didn't enjoy it as much as I wished to. That being said, the sequel- 'The Desolation of Smaug' was thoroughly enjoyable- despite (or due to, perhaps) the departures from the source material.
Now as I'm too lazy and tired (it/s 4.30am at this point), I'll just list down the thoughts I had throughout the film:

1. It was quite nice to see a pre-film camera commercial by Olympus, for once. Though I daresay that most people would have been confused by their slogan- I can't recall the entire thing, but it mentioned the word health. For those of you not in the loop, Olympus is also involved in healthcare systems- radiology, if I'm not mistaken.

2. Oh look. A trailer for Days of Future Past. Michael Fassbender is in it as a young Magneto (yay), but Ian McKellen stays as old Magneto (somewhat justifiable here though, seeing as he is supposed to be old at that point). Pity that they replaced Kitty Pride with Wolverine though. Shame on you.

3. Aaaand the movie finally begins, after a quick recap of previous events. Beorn's character design is as silly as Radagast's. Pity that they cut out Gandalf's introduction of each dwarf.

4. ...That pony ride was a lot longer in the books.

5. Legolas looks rounder than usual. I thought Orlando Bloom was a lot slimmer.

6. Tauriel is a nice inclusion- at least, the developing attraction between Tauriel and Kili is interesting and pleasant to watch.

7. Do arrows retain their piercing power when shot at close range? I'm looking at you, Legolas- you need to explain the physics of your yeomanry.

8. King Tharanduil! He was a bit of a blockhead in the book, but never once did I imagine him as a top class diva. Ugh. I can't imagine him sitting at the same table as Elrond and Galadriel.

9. Now Bard is a barrel transporter cum smuggler? Surely that's a demotion from his original job as a city guard in the book- but considering the state of the leadership of Dale- I wouldn't want to be a lapdog of the state either. He looks better than Legolas though.

10. So they reached the door, the sun went done, and the dwarfs went done. These movie dwarfs give up fast...

11. They cut out the riddle game, which was a pity, but Smaug was still awesome. The 'golden bath' scene was lovely too. Kinda reminded me of the Gold Rathian- now I feel like playing Monster Hunter again.