5. Mirroring
Obviously, with starting off at the Shire, travelling through Rivendell, above then under a mountain and final, woodland battle, The Hobbit admittedly shares a very similar structure to The Fellowship of the Ring. Although Peter Jackson has hinted that the next two instalments will have less in common with their Rings counterparts, its clear hes partially embracing the similarities. The treatment of Smaug, with the incredibly teasing glimpses in the prologue and a very minor reveal at the end is in very similar fashion to how Sauron was dealt with in the original trilogy, with Jackson slowly showing us Barad-Dur and the watching eye. And you'd be a fool not to see Thorin is clearly set to be the new Aragorn, with the character's grumpiness toned down. This is very similar to how George Lucas perceived the Star Wars prequels (They rhyme). There was obviously going to some similarities with a prequel trilogy over a decade later. But its startling both directors went with the very obvious thematic device of mirroring the originals. Heres hoping The Hobbits legacy is a bit better than those prequels.