3. Legolas – The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (2013)
There are few fantasy franchises as iconic and influential as The Lord of the Rings. As such, the decision to delve further into its backstory with a live-action adaptation of The Hobbit was a welcome one, but it wasn’t without its issues. For example, the decision to turn a single book into an entire trilogy of films was an odd choice that required fleshing out the story significantly.
Hollywood clearly considered it a stroke of genius to include a beloved Lord of the Rings character in the sequel trilogy. This is why Legolas made an appearance in The Desolation of Smaug, despite the fact that he wasn’t in Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Though he may have helped with brand recognition, it was painfully obvious that he simply didn’t belong in the movie.
For starters, Legolas is far too serious for the more whimsical story of The Hobbit trilogy. The film also depicts him as unnecessarily intense – more so, perhaps, than he was in Lord of the Rings. Shoehorning him into the story was one thing, but his uncharacteristic jealousy was a step too far. It was pretty obvious that he was out of place: he should have been left in The Lord of the Rings where he belonged.