The Hobbit Part 2: 10 Awesome Things We've Learnt From The New Trailer

7. Legolas Looks Fake

Legolas It wasn€™t all good news with the trailer and what was one of the teaser€™s issues has come back here too. Being set sixty years before the trilogy that came out ten years ago obviously sets up some problems with aging. While for the likes of Gandalf and Galadriel this isn€™t too much of an issue (the actors have barely aged), others aren€™t so lucky. Hugo Weaving had to be de-aged to his Rings€™ era look, but it€™s Orlando Bloom who€™s really suffered. Not only does he have to reverse real world time difference, but Legolas being a younger elf would also look a little younger too. And the solution isn€™t totally convincing. Weaving wore what he described as an uncomfortable headband to pull out his wrinkles and that worked quite well, which begs the question why Legolas looks so fake. I chalked up his plasticy CGI look in the teaser to unfinished effects, but from the Legolas montage in this trailer (quick, throw him in to get Lord Of The Rings€™ fans interested) it doesn€™t seem so. Jackson€™s plumped for a computer enhanced de-aging, but as with the animals in An Unexpected Journey it€™s all a little cartoony.
Contributor
Contributor

Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.