This is likely a dead horse that has long-since been beaten, but I'm just going to go ahead and give my few cents.
It's hard, going back and watching the
Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Jackson and Co. seem so dedicated to the lore and adding so many little details from the books. Then
The Hobbit prequel trilogy (intentional
Star Wars reference there) comes out and it's, well, all over the place. Personally, I didn't know what to expect, apart from the occasional deviation from the source material, but this?
Here are some things which I found to be the most egregious about
The Hobbit in terms of lore and, overall, ludicrousness.
- What they did to the storyline of the War against Angmar, one of my favorite aspects of the Appendices, which even BFME2 managed to do some small modicum of justice. Having the Rangers bury the Witch-king just makes Aragorn's people, and the soldiers of Gondor who came to their aid, really stupid. I mean, we can split hairs and say "but Arnorians are immune to the Black Breath", which I don't buy, but nevertheless, why did they feel the need to bury empty black robes? Why were they not affected by the Black Breath? Why did the Witch-King (and, as we find out in DoS, the other Nazgul) just sit there and let themselves be buried?
[amendment: I looked back on the timeline of the Third Age, and something else doesn't make sense. It is implied in the films that the Nazgul were "raised" recently - though an undead Ringwraith dying, or even pretending to be dead is crazy enough - which makes no sense in regards to the history with Gondor. I mean, if the Witch-King was supposedly dead and buried, how do we explain Minas Morgul? And Earnur (oh wait, i forgot: Legolas says that
Isildur was the last king of Gondor. lol, you know nothing, Legolas Greenleaf) was killed by the Witch-King, which ended the line of Kings (obviously that has already happened, and in the extended edition of BotFA, Thranduil references Denethor's father ruling as Steward of Gondor). Why would the Wise be unaware that one of the Nazgul was still alive and actively waging war with Gondor?]
- Radagast. Enough said.
- Why did they recast for the voice of Sauron/the Necromancer? I feel it's only because
benedict cumberbatch is famous in geek culture (especially with the female audiences) and, whether seen or not, his name in the credits would fill the seats in the movie theaters.
- Why is Beorn a giant?
- Red-haired she-elf and her romance with handsome Kili (or Fili, which ever one of them). It's unnecessary.
- Speaking of unnecessary, why is PJ trying to ship Gandalf and Galadriel? Isn't she already married to Celeborn?
- Speaking of Galadriel...
This scene, while some might think it cool, makes zero sense to me. Why is Galadriel becoming all scary in this scene? Is it because she's using Nenya? If so, then why is she turning scary-looking? And
WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT IN FRONT OF SAURON? Especially since the Three Rings of the Elves were supposed to be
HIDDEN! And why is she wielding the Phial of Earendil? Is
that what she's using to banish Sauron? If so, why is she turning scary-looking? The Silmarils, from whence the Phial gets its light, are not evil, and I read nowhere that they were ever tainted by Morgoth or Sauron. It just feels like more of PJ making Lothlorien elves (especially Galadriel) scarier than they were in the books.
- Speaking of scary elves, what about zombie Thranduil? That totally comes out of nowhere and is never mentioned ever again.
- Legolas surfing on spiders, orcs, defying gravity, controlling a troll via
God of War game mechanics, just being in this movie altogether.
- Bolg's redesign.
- Azog
- The troll with the battering ram helmet, and the one with the spindly spear legs
And last but not least...
- The Dwarves' severe lack of beards.
Feel free to add other things which annoyed, bothered you or was egregious to the lore.