My Thoughts on the Hobbit Trilogy
by
, September 02, 2020 at 01:16 PM (2403 Views)
We can all agree The Hobbit Trilogy didn't end up well.
I am 50/50 on the movies. There are many great scenes, like the Bilbo and Gollum scene, whend Bilbo meets Smaug, whend the dwarfs meet Bilbo, among others. All major scenes from the books are there, the issue to me is what it isn't. They had to much that doesn't exist in the books and most of them don't work at all. The only one that i liked, but it was ruined by overdoing it was the appearance of Legolas. I love the idea of his cameo, but like smeagol, he should only have appeared in the Mirkwood scene.
What is amazing is the fan edits that fix much of this trilogy and makes me actually enjoy it overall.
Maple Films fan edit is a really good one. That makes all three movies into one and remove most of those additional features that don't exist in the book, like Tauriel, thank god. The flow of the fan edits works well, even better than the three movies, like the transition of the second to the third movie is awful, because it removes the importance of smaug in my opinion. He should be dealt with in the second movie, instead of being pushed to the third movie. But i don't agree with those that said that this story doesn't work as a trilogy. I think it can very well work, with the first ending with the killing of the Goblin King and chase of the Wargs, the second with the clash and death of Smaug and the third with the Battle of the Five Armies.
However, to me, no amount of edits can fix the biggest issue that i have with this trilogy, and that is the addition of Azog. He should never be in the movie as the main villain. It actually turns him out into a horrible character. What they should have done, and in my opinion it would make the movies much better, was to make Bolg the main villain of the movies. He could have a revenge story where he seeks to kill the line of Durin for the death of his father. I believe the movie could follow the initial story beat of showing the flashback of the battle of Azalnubizar, but showing Dane actually killing Azog, and then the doubt of his death being questioned. Then, whend Bolg appeared, the company should think that Bolg was Azog, with Bolg being very similar with his father in appearance so to make it more believable. Then in the second movie the company could learn that he's actually the son of Azog, and the third movie would be the clash of Azog's and Durin's line.
If i remember right, Bolg attacks Erebor with the forces of Goblin Town and Gundabad.
I would like to see him as a commander of the Goblin King, and whend the Goblin King dies he could rally the goblins to avenge their lord's death and then it would be a cat and mouse chase, like in the original trilogy, but with Bolg, instead of Azog. Then later, with the aid of the Necromancer, he could attain control of Gundabad and the climax of the Battle of the Five armies could appen, but instead of what we got in the trilogy, it should follow closer to what happen in the books. It should all be resolved in the field of battle, instead of them going on the goats to the mountains. A big role should be given to Bolg's bodyguard. Maybe orc companions that we could see from the beginning of the trilogy or special dark orcs given by the Necromancer. I say this because the books make a big deal out of them, having great strenght and wielding scimitars of steel.
Most people say that the details of Gandalf's trips shouldn't show up, making him more mysterious, but i actually like it. The Nazgul scene shouldn't be in the movies, however, but overall i like it, since it leads to the attack against the Necromancer, which actually happens in Tolkien's story during the quest of Erebor. However, i would like for the Necromancer to be just that, and not the movies telling us outright that it's Sauron. In the end the white council could suspect of his return but nothing sure. I believe in Tolkien's story, Sauron has a physical form, so he shouldn't be a spiritual presence, instead making him a decrepid cloaked figure. As Sauron is a deceiver, he should act very unlike a dark lord and maybe even being a little foolish. Snaring people with his sweet words and promises. That should be how his meeting with Bolg could be, in my hypothetical story. And whend uncovered he should snap into a being of great malice. I believe that would be better than the generic evil spirit we got.
So this is my overall opinion of the trilogy. What do you think of my ideas to change the movies?
Surely their not original, but where those that i came up with, and for a long while wanted to share.