Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films arguably constitute finest fantasy trilogy ever made. Accessible to newcomers while remaining largely faithful to J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels, The Lord of the Rings movies married incredible spectacle and stunning visuals with genuine, heartfelt emotion.
When it was announced that Jackson would return to Middle-earth to helm a prequel trilogy based on The Hobbit, fan expectations were understandably high. Unfortunately, although the Hobbit films were wildly successful commercially-speaking, the reaction from audiences was far more lukewarm. The more charitable verdict is that – although the films have their moments – they’re a misguided attempt to transform a brief children’s tale into a sweeping saga for adults.
To be fair, Jackson had his work cut out for him, as the The Hobbit is a deceptively difficult book to adapt. In addition to its lighter, more juvenile tone, it also has 15 core cast members, 13 of whom are near-identical dwarves! Nevertheless, other issues with the films seem avoidable – and chief among these is just how often they flat-out fail the logic test.
With this in mind, here are 20 things that make no sense about the Hobbit trilogy.
