10 Worst Changes Peter Jackson Made To The Hobbit
2. Including Radagast
Radagast is a great character, and to give Sylvester McCoy his due credit, he played him brilliantly. This wasn't just another version of Saruman or Gandalf, this was a different kind of wizard entirely. His character portrayal was actually one of the few things that helped give The Hobbit some depth.
His obsession with nature and his ragtag, shabby appearance was a brilliant homage to Tolkien's original character - who was described as being so enamoured by the world of plants and beasts, that he sort of lost his way. And that's what we saw.
But. And this is a big but, we didn't need to spend so much time on him. Jackson spent a ridiculous chase sequence introducing the character, time that could have been used fleshing out all the dwarves - who by the second movie were mostly pushed to the side, in favour of the aforementioned love triangle.
Radagast was a nice nod to Tolkien, but he didn't appear in the books, and wasn't integral to the plot. Like so many aspects of these films, his inclusion only served to bog Peter Jackson's story down, rather than help drive it.