What I Loved & Hated About "The Hobbit" Trilogy

(Another article I wrote a while ago and simply didn't publish until I discovered it today)

February 2002.  "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring" had been in theaters for months, following 18 months of promotions and anticipation.  Having been in Korea for 23 months, I was oblivious.  I returned home from my mission completely naive to everything Lord of the Rings.  When first told the title, I said "Isn't that the book about the boys on the island who kill each other?"  I was quickly informed that I was thinking of "Lord of the Flies," and that "Lord of the Rings" had something to do with a ring that was evil, people who wanted it destroyed and....HOBBITS!  Finally, at least a word I recognized, though I still knew nothing of what they were.  I soon saw this "Lord of the Rings" movie and blossomed into a full blown Tolkien nerd.  After the trilogy ended, I knew in my heart of hearts that "The Hobbit" would eventually be turned into a movie and my anticipation began.

Nearly a decade later, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" opened in cinemas and the wait was over.  Not nearly as well received as "Lord of the Rings," it opened to lackluster reviews (though must unfairly critiqued the film based on its 48 fps format).  Now that the trilogy is over, it is barely an afterthought in the minds of most movie goers.  Lacking the fanfare, epic scope, and critical acclaim of "LOTR," its flaws are often to blame.  I personally enjoyed "The Hobbit" trilogy, and will share what I thought were its best qualities, as well as what I feel could have improved or downright changed.

What I Liked:
Bilbo - Could Martin Freeman have been more perfect as Bilbo?  No.  From his first exchange with wishing Gandalf a good morning at Bag End to his final scenes with Thorin and the dwarves, he NAILED IT.

Smaug - Again, absolute perfection.  Smaug was brought to life in all the terrible glory I imagined him in.  The effects, the voice, the dialogue....everything about Smaug was amazing.  There never has been and likely never will be a more perfect dragon on the silver screen.

Radagast - You either love him or hate him.  I love him and was so grateful to see another good wizard brought to life and a peer of Gandalf.  I only wish there had been more of him.

The White Council - Some scoffed at perceived padding added by Peter Jackson to extend the run time and make more money, and many pointed to the White Council as an example.  Straight from the appendices, this was no mere fluff, and it dealt with heavy material that I loved seeing dealt with on screen.  The cleansing of Dol Guldur by the White Council in the final movie made my ticket for that film worth it all by itself.

Middle Earth - What more can I say.  A journey back to the beauty, grandeur, splendor, and sheer majesty of Middle Earth/New Zealand is always welcome.  Being back in Bag End and the Shire was like being wrapped in a warm blanket.  Journeying to new locations and environments, especially Beorn's house and the Woodland Realm, was exciting.  Beyond the scenery, the attention to detail and love of their craft by WETA was also apparent in the props, costumes, and art design.  Just stunning and beautiful.

Tauriel - Among Tolkien purists, you either love her or hate her.  She was not in the book and created solely for the movie.  But did I think she felt contrived?  No.  I thought her character was not out of place and that she was developed in way that the spirit of her character harmonized very well with the spirit of the book and its characters.

What I Didn't Like:
CGI and Green Screens - Way. Too. Much.  Period.  Gone were the awesome "Bigatures" of landscapes they used in the LOTR trilogy (remember that 20 foot model of Minas Tirith?).

Smaug's Demise - Why did Peter Jackson put Smaug's death at the beginning of the final movie?  Especially when, in "Return of the King," he cut out Saruman's death scene from the theatrical edition for the stated reason that he didn't want to kill the second film's villain at the beginning of film 3.  That's exactly what he did with Smaug!  Not only did that leave us with an  unusual and abrupt cliffhanger ending, but it was resolved in the first ten minutes of the third movie and bore no real narrative influence on the remainder of the film.  I saw no reason why this editing choice was made.

The deaths of Thorin, Fili, and Kili - In the book, Thorin dies heroically, and Fili and Kili fall in defense of his slain body.  Not only is the order completely reversed in the movie, so is any degree of noble sacrifice or heroism in their deaths.  This fact alone probably cost the final film half of the emotional resonance and power that it could have otherwise had.  UPDATE: In retrospect, I have softened on this after hearing the reasoning for this change to make the battle more realistic and some other reasons.  I still would have preferred it more heroic, but have at least softened in my criticism.

Alfrid - He was given too much screen time and too many lines in the final movie.  I wouldn't have shed a tear to have seen him go down with the Mayor of Laketown in the opening scenes.  During every one of his scenes, I asked myself, "Is this scene really more deserving of inclusion in this film than more scenes of the dwarves, or elves, or the White Council, or Radagast, or of watching the grass grow?"

Too Much Legolas Action - I have ZERO problem with Legolas being in these films.  To me, it would actually make LESS sense for him not to be.  Thranduil is, after all, his father, and Legolas is, after all, a powerful prince in the Woodland Realm with a lot of responsibilities.  So why wasn't he in the Hobbit book in the first place?  Simple--Tolkien hadn't created him yet.  BUT, I felt that in the final movie, there was too much time spent on Legolas battling Bolg and his antics were a little far fetched, even for me.  Yes, elves are lighter and nimble, so could he have pranced up those stones as they collapsed from underneath him?  Perhaps.  But couple that with his other antics from the film--riding the bat, using arrows to affect a perfect landing on a small platform, falling from it and then controlling a weird troll....as a whole, it just added up to too much for me. Each of those individually wouldn't have been nearly as unbelievable as all of them together in a 5 minute span.

All the Unfair Criticism - OK, so this is really more of a positive regarding the films themselves, but I really did NOT like all of the rehashed criticism regarding the stretching of this into 3 movies and inclusion of things not in the original Hobbit book.  I mean, this is a world created by Tolkien, there is PLENTY of material to cover 3 movies.  And yes, some of it was NOT in the appendices and was indeed created by Jackson himself.  You can have a beef with that if you want, but most people complained that Jackson had the audacity to even change anything from the Hobbit book at all.  It was as if he was trying to change the Bible, not a fictional fairy tale written purely for entertainment.  My response to that complaint?  Tolkien himself did THE EXACT SAME THING.  After the Lord of the Rings became so successful, Tolkien went back and began to make edits to the Hobbit to do exactly what Peter Jackson sought to do--to bring it in better harmony with Lord of the Rings.  Tolkien actually spent years making small revisions to the Hobbit, many of them unpublished in its current copyrighted form but available nonetheless in other sources.  In short, Tolkien NEVER considered the Hobbit completely finished.

There is more to both categories, but I will finish.  Ultimately, was the Hobbit as epic as LOTR?  Of course not.  It's not supposed to be.  It's the story of an adventure, not a millennium in the making showdown of the united evil and good forces in all of Middle Earth.  But was the Hobbit as good of a film as the LOTR?  I don't think so.  I wanted it to be, and hoped it would be, but it was not.  Were they bad films?  No.  Could they have been better?  Yes.  But do I still love them, own them, and will repeatedly watch them?  Of course.  I cherish any journey I can take into Middle Earth.