#dragon ramble

I personally was surprised at his rather dark coloration (not that you can really tell what color he is with the lighting in DoS), his very crocodile-like head and the snake-like movements of his neck that make him seem less fantasy and more earth-reptile, and his slightly smaller than expected size (though, to be honest, I spent much of this year fangirling over SnK and Pacific Rim so my perspective on sizes is a bit skewed).

But that being said, I really, really love him now and think the peeps at Weta did an amazing job.  His movements are amazing, and I appreciated the darker coloring when you could see how fire lights him up from the inside.  Sure, he looks a bit dinosaur-y, but he friggin' talks.  I'm impressed with how expressive they managed to make a giant reptilian face. This expressiveness, in turn, made him a lot less frightening (and at times incredibly derp 'cause come on).  I also appreciated all the "oriental" dragon elements they put in, so he really is a culmination of many dragon-like traits rather than just a Medieval fantasy monster.