The Hobbit: 5 Lessons From The Desolation Of Smaug That Will Make The Third Film Great

4. Kili, Bard, And The External Characters

Peter Jackson has always been good at fleshing out Tolkien's characters. Tolkien was adept at exploring his world and its many cultures, but he wasn't so precise in writing his characters. People like Frodo, Aragorn, and Legolas seemed like cyphers for delivering Tolkien's histories, poems and songs, never emerging with distinct personalities. But Jackson managed to levy each of his characters with a unique personality and purpose. Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Eowyn, Gandalf and many others emerged with their own distinctive voice within the narrative. Looking at the original Hobbit film, it was therefore surprising that all of the new characters seemed just as flat as Tolkien wrote them. Of all the things Jackson chose to adapt faithfully in the first Hobbit, he correctly adopted the Dwarves' lack of personality - except for Thorin, who he made even more unlikable. All of the other Dwarves were memorable only for their rhyming names. Oh yeah, and Bombur was fat. Thankfully, Jackson has rectified these mistakes with the second Hobbit. Returning to his old LOTR ways, he gives several of the Dwarves standout personalities. Balin has become the moral center of the group, guiding Bilbo with wisdom and kindness. Thorin has now taken on his book counterpart's more heroic qualities. He's still stubborn and bull-headed, but it's clear that he wants to do the right thing for his people. His morals are questionable, but these differing qualities serve to make him more nuanced, and more interesting to watch. Of course, the standout Dwarf here is Kili, who emerges from being a nothing character in the book/first movie, to a sweet, good-natured soldier with a clever tongue and an interesting back story. He even gets his own romance subplot (more on that later). The result is a character we can actually care about and root for. I suspect that Jackson did this to give us a connection with Kili so we can actually be saddened by his impending death in the next movie. Which is a brilliant move - Fili's and Kili's deaths were handled as a mere afterthought in the book (something that always annoyed me) and now hopefully they can finally get a proper sendoff. Bard is also set up masterfully, containing more distinctive character traits than his book counterpart ever did. If readers recall, Bard wasn't properly introduced until about three pages before he shoots and kills Smaug. It's not until after the dragon's death that we learn about his history. But even then we never get much about his personality or the type of life he led at Laketown. I always felt it was a strange way to introduce the slayer of Smaug. Having your book's villain killed by the equivalent of Joe Shmoe is not the best way to cap a climax. In the film, it is Bard who brings the Dwarves to Laketown, hides them, gives them weapons, and prepares them for the end of their journey. He also factors significantly in the politics of Laketown (An interesting creation in its own right) which serve to reveal his noble character traits. This is all great foreshadowing to set him up as the future ruler of Dale. Bard also relays his back story, and the tale of Smaug's near-defeat, as a nice set-up for his eventual conquest of Smaug. All of this works to introduce Bard as an important player for part 3. Overall, this increase in three dimensional characters serves to give us more to chew on. Jackson's laid the groundwork for some brilliant pay-offs to come in There and Back Again. With the added characterizations of Kili, Thorin, and Bard, we're set to be properly invested in the end of their journeys. An epic battle filled with heroic conquests and sacrifices needs to contain the proper amount of dramatic weight in order for you to care. Desolation has made this possible. As a wise wizard once said, the board is set. The pieces are moving.