When the dwarves and Bilbo escape from the wood elves in barrels, they have to not only make their way down a treacherous river but also deal with an attack by orcs, which is countered by Legolas and Tauriel. Legloas’ time in the film also leads into another issue with Desolation: set pieces that feel like video game levels. That Jackson has Tauriel become attracted to one of the dwarves in a Romeo and Juliet-esque subplot is just silly. Giving Legolas a large amount of screen time in Desolation, accompanied by Tauriel, a female wood elf of Jackson’s creation, is another. Depicting a meeting between Saruman, Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel in An Unexpected Journey (as noted in Tolkien’s LOTR appendices) is one thing. However, Desolation of Smaug is the film where Jackson’s storytelling liberties with The Hobbit start veering into fan fiction territory.
And that’s the kind of thing Jackson has done repeatedly in the first two Hobbit films for example, when Bilbo fingers the ring in his pocket during The Desolation of Smaug, we hear strains of that iconic Lord of the Rings score. Sure, it was originally published as an adventure story for children, but Tolkien went back and revised the “Riddles in the Dark” chapter to, among other things, turn a simple magic ring into The One Ring. While there is merit to the argument that The Hobbit is a story for kids, it really is an epic tale, especially when one takes into account its sequel and the ways Tolkien expanded on the first book through those appendices. Unlike some, I didn’t mind when he expanded the two-film series into a trilogy, nor that he planned on pulling material from the Lord of the Rings appendices to show us scenes that aren’t in Tolkien’s book. I was a fan of director Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings adaptation, so I was looking forward to his take on The Hobbit when it was announced. The Lord of the Rings also inspired the writing of my own fantasy novel, an unabashed rip-off of Tolkien’s work. The book introduced me not only to Tolkien but also the fantasy genre, which in turn sparked my interest in playing Dungeons & Dragons and crafting my own adventures. I still have the copy of The Hobbit that I bought at my elementary school’s book fair when I was a kid.
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