The Curse of the Prequel Trilogy (Rant)

In 1997, George Lucas made a decision that all Star Wars fans were waiting almost 14 years for… another Star Wars film. Lucas decided to create a prequel trilogy and tell the story of Anakin Skywalker and his transition into Darth Vader. Of course this all looked good on paper. The finished product is something a little less than worthy of greatness.

A few years ago, Peter Jackson decided to do the same with his magnificent trilogy. Of course the only problem with Jackson’s idea is that there already is a prequel story to The Lord of the Rings and that is The Hobbit. The Hobbit tells the story of Bilbo Baggins and his journey to Erebor (The Lonely Mountain). Bilbo travels with thirteen Dwarves on their quest to take back their kingdom from the clutches of Smaug, the last dragon in Middle-Earth. This story introduces us to hobbits, Gandalf the Grey, and of course The One Ring of Power. Sounds easy enough to translate to screen right? Unlike Lucas who had to create a whole new story, Jackson already had the story from beginning to end. The problem with Jacksons’ idea though is The Hobbit is a very small book in compared to each of the books of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. With 310 pages of The Hobbit, Jackson had to go and get greedy with it and try to expand this story into three movies when this could have been done in just two.

The Lord of the Rings is encompassed in 1,008 pages of just pure story. There are about 200 more pages in the appendices that take the story further beyond the events of the trilogy. There is so much to Lord of the Rings that things were changed or left out that many fans were upset about. Now from a filmmaker’s point of view, the things left out or changed in the film trilogy, I could understand why Jackson left them out. The films are pushing four hours already and that is the theatrical releases. If you watch the expanded versions you are looking at 4 hours and 30 minutes for Return of the King alone.

In the same breath I can understand why the thought was to add to The Hobbit films. Most of what Jackson is adding is information that is only in appendices or in Tolkien’s’ The Silmarillion. The latter is a collection of stories that preclude The Hobbit. The information in The Silmarillion answers the questions of where the Elves come from, why there are Dwarves, and toward the end of the book, how the main characters of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings end up where they do at the start of those respective books. So for casual film goers, Jackson wanted to explain the reasons why and lay out everything so the transition from the prequel trilogy to the first trilogy is seamless. But if you watch The Lord of the Rings or even just the first film in the trilogy, Fellowship of the Ring, there is a prologue that explains everything you need to know in 10 minutes.

Now let us go back to the Star Wars prequels for a moment. Lucas decided to add information to the story as well and I think it got out of hand. The story that was supposed to be was as simple as the original trilogy, the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. Why on Earth did we need all that extra crap? Now Jackson has done the same with the same result.  Jackson has tried to add too much to a story that didn’t need it. Add characters that didn’t need to be added or even characters that have no business being in the story. Point: Legolas the Elven Prince. Legolas is a beloved character from the first trilogy that is NEVER mentioned in The Hobbit. However, there is an argument for his appearance because Bilbo and the Dwarves travel through Mirkwood (where Legolas is from) and is captured by the Elven King (Legolas is the Prince). But let’s use him as a cameo, not an integral part of the story.  Second, and yes another Elf, Tauriel who is played by Evangeline Lilly. Tauriel is the captain of the Elven King guard and has been made to be Legolas v. 2.0. An interesting character, but still why do we really need her? Jackson has taken such a simple story and bogged it down with an overabundance of back story that it takes away from what made The Hobbit such a great book.

Now again, like the prequels for Star Wars, it is a very good way to visually see different places and things mentioned in the novel. For instance, Erebor, though most of it is in the dark, was very cool to see the vision Jackson had for the Dwarven kingdom. Also seeing the dragon on the big screen was awe-inspiring. Smaug is portrayed almost majestically and adding the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch helped a lot. But none of this matters as the main story is overshadowed by the subplots.

Now I have a question for Peter Jackson… Did you not learn from Lucas? You shouldn’t have to add to this already great story. You are filing this trilogy, like the prequels for Star Wars, with essentially worthless characters and subplots. I’m sorry to say this Peter, but this is your Phantom Menace