As they slowly and surely become a full blown, six film epic, one big question arises about Peter Jackson's Middle Earth movies; what do we call them? The Lord Of The Rings seems pretty apt given the route taken with The Hobbit, but that kinda devalues the newer movies. The Middle Earth Saga sounds cool, but throws up a worrying parallel with an equally adored classic trilogy with an eternally lambasted first prequel. The real issue is that, as of now, with The Desolation Of Smaug just about to hit cinemas worldwide, were still not quite sure what The Hobbit is trying to be. Is it an adaptation of Tolkiens book? Obviously on a base level yes, but as a trilogy its so much more. Is it attempting to tie directly into The Lord Of The Rings? Sort of, but for every returning character theres many distinctions that make this feel completely different. Is it a brazen cash in? Thats the question that has polarised audiences since even before An Unexpected Journey was released. There is admittedly a real irony in all the criticism of Jacksons numerous changes to turn The Hobbit it into a film trilogy when The Lord Of The Rings was likewise heavily bastardised to make it suitable for the screen; The Two Towers novel includes both Shelob and the death of Boromir. Why it was less of an issue ten years ago is twofold; not only are audiences, for the most part, more acquainted with the short childrens book The Hobbit than the complex, lengthy Lord Of The Rings, but the changes felt in service of the films themselves, rather than their commercial prospects. Through all this, I think one thing everyone can agree on is that The Hobbit is yet to do is address some of the hanging threads that have never been resolved from the original trilogy, instead actually managing to make some more of its own. To highlight this and get your film appetite whet for the next instalment this Friday, here are eight addressed issues with Peter Jacksons Middle Earth Sextet (no, that doesn't sound quite right). Spoilers for the whole series, including the final two, as of yet unreleased Hobbit films, are present throughout.
