Comparison between The Hobbit and its Movie Counterparts

When discussing the differences between Peter Jackson’s 2010 movie adaption of The Hobbit and the Tolkien original, one could compare many things. From the deaths of Thorin and his nephews to the capturing of the dwarves in Mirkwood, many things stand out. However, a theme that we can’t overlook, which stems from the last two movies, is the elves. The decisions made when it came to the elves are still being argued about and discussed to this day.

In The Desolation of Smaug we see Legolas who many moviegoers would remember from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. To some it is a delight, while devoted fans of the movies and books would have been puzzled, shocked, or in some cases, displeased with this decision. The Hobbit book does not formally introduce Legolas until Lord of the Rings and the decision is still controversial to this day. And it wasn’t just a single cameo shot they gave him, no, he played a key role in the movies and was a vital member to crucial plot points such as capturing the dwarves, saving Thorin, and defeating Bolg. Another extremely controversial elven character introduced into the series was the female captain of the guard, Tauriel.

The young warrior was meant to represent a strong female role in a cast of male leads, which is positive on the surface, but many devoted fans argue that she has no relevance to the plot and creates more confusion. Tauriel is portrayed as the love interest of two characters, Legolas, and Kili the Dwarf. Legolas was never said to have found love in any of the original books written, but this plot point technically cannot be proven untrue and he could have fallen in love before or after the events of Lord of the Rings and the Unfinished Tales. 

On the other hand, for a dwarf to fall in love with an elf would be unthinkable, and if it did happen, it would probably result in some sort of ex-communication or extreme shunning. The fact that Kili is the nephew of Thorin Oakenshield would make it worse. Thorin held a deep grudge against the Elves of Mirkwood and being related to Thorin made Kili third in line for the Throne of Erebor, after his older brother Fili. If word of this “forbidden romance” got out, there would be horrible uproar and his right to the throne would most definitely be taken away. However, this hypothesis is only valid through the events of The Hobbit as in The Lord of the Rings movies, we can see that friendships are made and grudges are slowly mended. It would also have most likely been less harsh in the books, as Thorin did dislike elves but did not hate them to such an extent. 

Besides the introduction of non-canonical characters, there are some non-canonical stunts and scenes with the elves that are pretty unbelievable. In the last movie, Legolas flies upside down on an eagle and kills hundreds of orcs in minutes, defies gravity when he jumps up falling stones, and seems to have never-ending arrows until the most inconvenient time. Nevertheless, Peter Jackson and his colleagues do have explanations for these seemingly irrelevant characters. The key to the character’s reason for being is the audience. For years, Legolas—portrayed by Orlando Bloom–was a fan favorite from Lord of the Rings, known for his good looks, ability with a bow, and amazing fighting skills. While many hardcore fans found this upsetting, a greater percentage of revenue came from excited fans coming for the sole purpose of good-looking characters, such as Legolas and Thranduil. The same concept applies to Tauriel, as the idea of a strong female lead constantly saving the two princes would be a welcome change.

However, at the end of the day, I am in no way pushing the movies aside as something that shouldn’t be watched and enjoyed. While many non-canonical aspects do not fit and some scenes require suspension of belief, we must remember that this is a movie, and most movie adaptions make changes so that it is more enjoyable to watch. Additionally, these changes are expected when a single book is stretched into a trilogy for profit. Thanks to the movies, more people have been introduced and fans have been created leading more people to appreciate and enjoy the wonderful and vast expanse that is Tolkien’s Middle Earth.