13 Problems That Almost Ruin The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
9. Richard Armitage
His casting was always a sore subject for some (and the revelation that Bryan Blessed could have taken the role), but he did do pretty well with the first two movies even if his automatic setting seemed to be surly. If he was one of Snow Whites company, hed undoubtedly be Grumpy. But in the final film, Armitage has a little too much to do in emotional terms and theres not a massive change from his default demeanour to really sell the fact that he has dragon sickness. It is to the films great loss that Jackson didnt choose to make Thorin go through the kind of transformation that Theoden underwent in the Lord Of The Rings, and unfortunately Armitage doesnt really convince in that key respect. It seems Armitage - and his performance - will inevitably remain a Marmite decision, and while the casting could have been a lot worse it could also, sadly, have been a lot better. But that's what you get when you cast an actor known mostly for TV work.
