Thomas Roach on whether Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit has deviated too much from the book…
It’s not new knowledge that the film adaptation of The Hobbit has deviated from the book somewhat but after seeing the latest trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies it seems to have gone too far in my opinion. The Hobbit is a book I have read quite a few times and I like to think I know the story well. After seeing the latest trailer for the third film it was hard for me to identify parts that had been directly lifted from the books. Sure the basic narrative is there, but there is so much added in that if you were unaware of it being a trailer for The Hobbit then you would not associate it with the story.
Having read the book I know the story pretty well but from the trailer it has been difficult to determine what happens in which order. The film looks like it is going to solely focus on two battles, one being The Battle of the Five Armies and the other being the White Council taking on Sauron. The latter I am far more interested in. This is something I am glad has been included in the film; it was actually spoken about in detail in other Tolkien literature, just not The Hobbit. The events did take place during The Hobbit so it makes sense to include this. It will set up Sauron for The Lord of the Rings really well and I think this could be an epic part of the final movie.
The Battle of the Five Armies may be very different. The book certainly does not detail the events as well as battles in The Lord of the Rings but as that is the set piece, hence the title of the movie, it will surely be of epic proportion. I don’t however think that fans necessarily want to see an epic battle wage on for most of the film. The basic narrative of the film is pretty good and introducing other aspects to the story and fleshing out some characters is certainly boring and will just bump up the film’s run time, which will already be pushing two and a half to three hours. Adaptations can be tough but I don’t think they should ever deviate too much from source material unless they are loosely based on a novel, but this isn’t.
I will also add some defence to why the films are so different from the book. Many people jump to the conclusion that the book was split into three movies for money. This will likely have contributed but frankly, the book does not give sany characterisation to some major and minor characters. The Hobbit is very short and meant for children and frankly it is very hard to compare to Lord of the Rings which includes greater character detail and setting.
Peter Jackson has taken a short children’s book and turned it into a trilogy which is somewhat of a let down from The Lord of the Rings; however by adding more depth and fleshing out characters more he has been able to create a final homage to J.R.R. Tolkien’s world, something that the author may have never imagined. I do think the last Hobbit film will be the best and I am sure audiences all over the world will enjoy it all the same. I don’t blame Peter Jackson for what he has added in – it is just a shame he wasn’t able to adapt The Hobbit as well as he adapted The Lord of the Rings.
Overall, I do think that the films have deviated too far from the source material but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Adding in more detail and fleshing out Middle-earth a great deal more will hardly hinder the trilogy. It is a fair criticism to say it has added too much in, but the film industry is a business and if they can make three films that all gross around a billion dollars then they will surely take the opportunity.
Do you think The Hobbit movies have deviated too far from the book? Let us know…
Thomas Roach
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Originally published November 9, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
