8. The Trolls
The Troll segment of The Hobbit, in which Bilbo attempts to sneak up on them but ends up being caught, should have made for one of the more entertaining passages of the film, and though it provided light relief - despite seeming utterly perfunctory - there's plenty to pick it apart for. After the Trolls capture Bilbo and all of the Dwarves, they discuss the means through which they will kill and then devour them, before Gandalf shows up and saves the day. In the film, this involves him cracking open a boulder that allows the light of day to shine through and turn the Trolls to stone, but in the novel, it happened a little differently. Originally, Gandalf hid himself and used some vocal mimicry to sound like one of the Trolls, confusing them and starting a fight. This allowed him to keep the Trolls arguing with one another about how to cook the troops until dawn arrived and they were promptly turned to stone. It's a devilishly funny passage of the novel, and another instance of Jackson stripping the lightness of the novel away in favour of something that seems more badass and epic.