4. The Dwarves
Thorin's company is a great looking bunch of dwarves, and I'm not referring only to the ones with stubbly beards. The filmmakers developed some fantastic armour and costumes, with some of the articles and choices evoking thoughts of deep back-story and interesting characterization. Unfortunately, it is all wrong, and not only when lined up with available resources from the source materialit is wrong also, and perhaps most significantly, because it is completely and utterly unnecessary. I remember, in the genesis of this project, Peter Jackson saying something along the lines of "Tolkien didn't give the dwarves enough distinction and characterization, so we've made some choices." (Not an actual quote). He is half right. The dwarves weren't given much meat in the original novel, but they had been given exactly enough distinction. Balin wore a red hood. Fili and Kili wore blue hoods (and had blonde beards). Dwalin had a blue beard and a green hood. In fact, if we are honest, the dwarves were given precisely the same amount of characterization in the film as they were in the bookperhaps less. Film Bombur doesn't have a single line in the entirety of "An Unexpected Journey." Fili and Kili don't start a single campfire. Essentially, Peter Jackson and the rest of the filmmakers have no excuse, no reason: they simply butchered the source material. Nothing was gained, but a great deal was lost.