It's inevitable. Adaptations breed change. You translate a book for the big screen and you're going to be left with a much different product than what you started with. Even the most faithful adaptation is going to take liberties. It's just the way of things.
Even Peter Jackson, who so faithfully translated J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy for the big screen, made some very acceptable changes. Godlike character Tom Bombadil was left out, as was the "Scouring of the Shire" epilogue. Some complained, but in the end most agreed that these changes made sense and only served the film trilogy.
Much the same thing may happen with "The Hobbit," according to a leaked document. I normally wouldn't report this sort of thing, but it's minimally spoiler-ish if you've read the book and it comes from the entirely reputable "Rings" fansite, TheOneRing.net.
The site's spy apparently obtained some sort of casting document that features a Bilbo character description which reads: "...he doesn’t have huge courage he does become, particularly in the last battle, very brave." TheOneRing rightly points out that in the book, Bilbo Baggins spends most of the climactic Battle of the Five Armies knocked out cold and invisible thanks to his precious magical ring.
Look. You can't have the story's great, big, violent showdown relegated to a third-party telling. And frankly, you're asking for trouble if you're leaving your star out of the same main battle. It could be done of course-- knock Bilbo out and follow the rest of the confrontation through the perspectives of the sizable supporting cast. But the above character description seems to point to the diminutive hero having a much more active role in the way things pan out.
Of course, Bilbo also does plenty of brave things leading to the climax, so this could simply be a case of people reading into a rumor/leak too closely. That said, as a fan of the series I'm okay with a change like this. Especially with Jackson writing-- that man has put his personal stamp on the franchise. If it's something he deems as being kosher and in the spirit of Tolkien's original work, who are we to argue? The "Rings" movies aren't perfect, but as adaptations go they're about as faithful as any other adaptation that's ever been put to screen.
What do you think of the possibility that Bilbo takes a more active role in the Battle of the Five Armies? Acceptable change or something to rant and rage over?
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