10 Biggest Mistakes That Completely Ruined The Hobbit Trilogy

6. Indistinguishable Dwarves

Near the end of The Battle Of The Five Armies, a departing Bilbo tells Balin (the old dwarf) to pass his regards on to the rest of the company, only for the white-haired dwarf (that's his one distinguishing character trait) to reveal the gang you've got to know and love over the past three years are all here. Bilbo turns around, and... it's a sea of unrecognisable faces. It's hard not to laugh as you realise the only vaguely memorable dwarves (the leader, the one who doesn't look like a dwarf so he can fall in love, the one who doesn't look like a dwarf's brother) have been killed off, leaving a menagerie of characters who, after spending nine hours with, you know nothing about. To be fair to the films, in Tolkien's novel the dwarves aren't exactly given much in the way of personality, with only Thorin gifted any sort of arc. The problem is that there's clearly been some effort put in to make them a bit more interesting for the screen. If they'd just been treated as indistinguishable chaps, that'd have been fine, but with each given semi-distinct looks and multiple roll-call scenes, it strikes of a failed attempt to mimic the Fellowship. That Jackson so competently made not only the nine brooch-wearers, but also the wide supporting cast of the original trilogy, uniquely memorable makes this particularly disappointing - he should be able to make you care for thirteen dwarves in his sleep.