is the fact that in trying to make the film 'epic' with the Aragornization of Thorin as tortured hero it seems weaker than LOTR because it lacks the epic sweep and serious issues of the book, and in trying hard to make it lighter and whimsical like TH book with all the snot/bird poo/chips humour it fails as a fairytale for children because the book does not use cheap modern gags as a substitute for whimsy. for me TH fails on both counts because it wants to be everything for everyone. PJ said a couple of times he wants to attract tweenagers, and boy did he try too hard with the video game look of the battle scenes and the look of some of the Dwarves.