10 Reasons You Should Give The Hobbit A Second Chance

8. It Corrects The Book's Flaws

The Hobbit is an impressive children's book, but it isn't without its flaws that, if left unchecked, would greatly hamper any cinematic adaptation. The largest of these is Gandalf's hopping in and out of the story whenever he needed to. What he was up to was expanded upon by Tolkien in the Return Of The King Appendices, but in the book itself it just looked like the author needed the all-powerful wizard out of the way. Which is exactly what it was. People may bemoan the padding out of the story using elements from other parts of the mythology, but here it's necessary; to have Gandalf flippantly state he was leaving while mumbling something about a necromancer would look like lazy screenwriting, rather than faithful adaptation. Unfortunately not every issue has been dealt with. The band of dwarves may seen overblown at thirteen, with little time given to those outside a certain few, but that's really a hangover from the book; they're as interchangeable in print as Nori, Ori and Sleepy are on screen.