"The Hobbit" was a childrens book and the movies should have been directed towards children.

Sorry for the long post.<br><br>The Hobbit was a book written for children, this isnt up for debate. It is far less serious than LOTR and completely different in tone. It should have never been attempted to be turned into an epic adventure trilogy. The movies were directed towards adults and that makes them feel inconsistent. Had they been faithful to the book, it would have been a very cartoony funny movie, much like the spider scene. Imagine if the whole Hobbit had been as silly as that, and let me tell you it would have been, had it been made into a movie decades ago. The trilogy we got was a mess of trying to be a serious epic movie and a childrens movie. It should have been one or the other.<br><br>I think it should have been the latter, and more than one movie too. It should have been a trilogy, but all aimed at children, and they would have been great like that. Imagine if they had been silly, funny, and epic "kid movies". They would have been awesome, but they went for the cashgrab of trying to make it serious epics instead of kid movies and failed miserably trying to do both. A Hobbit movie like the Spider scene would have been great, and it should have been that way.<br><br>A perfect example is the scene in which Smaug talks to Bilbo. In the book it goes like this: <br><br>"'Where did you come from?' asked the great dragon, speaking for the first time. His voice was deep as thunder, yet as soft as the murmur of the evening–breeze in the Elven–kingdoms. Bilbo was terrified, not daring to move. The dragon sat down on his pile, wrapped his tail round it and lay there, listening. 'Come now, tell me!' said he. 'Did you come alone or were there others?' 'O–others?' stammered Bilbo. 'Oh yes, yes, lots!' 'Really!' said the dragon, during a long silence. 'I thought so. Twelve?' said he at last. 'Oh don't be absurd!' said the dragon scornfully. 'You know quite well you are only ten! We know it. We counted your legs. But what do you call them?' 'Call them?' shouted the dragon. 'I mean what do you call the things you are sitting on?' 'Oh you mean my legs?' said Bilbo suprised. 'Then why not say legs? You would not be sitting on your legs, would you?' 'I thought we were speaking the Common Speech!' said the dragon irritated. 'My younger relatives sometimes fail to remember that we are not the Common Speech. I speak Elvish, Dwarvish, Mannish, Goblin and many others.' 'Don't they all more or less speak the same language?' said Bilbo. 'Not more or less! Not more or less! Of course not! If you mean that all of them are more or less foreign, I suppose you could call it the Common Speech, but I know what you mean. I know what you mean.'" <br><br>What did we get instead? Smaug talks like a generic fantasy dragon, completely losing the humor of the scene. And the best part is that the movies still had some of the humor of the book! Imagine if the whole thing had been silly like that. <br><br>As a side note, Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage were perfect casting, as they are naturally funny and dramatic actors.