The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Part 3: There and Whack Again LOL!)

Nick: Gandalf tells the dwarves he has to leave them and goes to meet Radagast, which culminates in him saying that there is war brewing, something I feel like Gandalf knew in the forest when he left the dwarves. He then tells Radagast he needs to leave and go back to the dwarves while not having any more information than he did before, but Radagast says it’s more important to face this head on, which is why I thought he left the dwarves in the first place. Gandalf seemed really unimportant in this film and his character was being forced away from the dwarves because he makes thing too easy for them.

Did you feel his character was forced in this film, and the only reason he’s there is because of how popular the character is?

Dustin: No. In the book, Gandalf left at the same point, and we don’t see him again until he turns up at the final battle. But it makes sense what he does here, because it is in line with what Tolkien mentioned in the book, that he was leaving to deal with the Necromancer, who we find out in The Lord of the Rings is Sauron. So if they needed to shoehorn Gandalf into this section, it made sense. Just like how they shoehorned in Legolas, who wasn’t in The Hobbit, in a logical place, i.e., when the dwarfs are captured by Legolas’s father.

Nick: I meant more of the logic of Gandalf’s decisions. He is with the dwarves and then chooses to leave (makes sense), but when he says the same thing in reverse with Radagast, I don’t think he finds out any more information, yet he feels he needs to go back to the dwarves, and all Radagast says is, “No, it’s more important that you go see if the Necromancer is back,” which I feel Gandalf knew from the image on the tree in the forrest. So his decision making was all for drama rather than logical conclusions. So when Radagast says, “Leave the dwarves up to fate,” we get a close up shot of Gandalf’s lovely “older” face saying “Leave my friends behind?”

Dustin: I think Gandalf wanted to confront the Necromancer.

Nick: I know he wanted to confront the Necromancer, but his scene with Radagast in the forest was 10 to 15 minutes long, gathering no new information, and yet he now felt he had to go back to the dwarves, and it felt like it was all leading up to the emotional line of, “I have to leave my friends behind,” considering it was the last line of the scene. I’m just saying that it was a long pointless scene besides allowing Radagast to return.

Dustin: Would you recommend The Lord of the Rings, Part -2: The Hobbit, Part 2: The Desolation of Smaug?

Nick: Hell yeah! When films can be attractive to kids and adults while not be a fully animated film it’s quite an achievement.