{"id":77674,"date":"2013-08-27T14:02:51","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T19:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=77674"},"modified":"2013-08-27T14:03:21","modified_gmt":"2013-08-27T19:03:21","slug":"did-azog-defile-an-unexpected-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2013\/08\/27\/77674-did-azog-defile-an-unexpected-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Azog defile An Unexpected Journey?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Azog
Azog the Defiler<\/figcaption><\/figure> In this TORn Library piece, Ringer Rud the Spud takes an in-depth look at Azog the Defiler, and how his presence played out in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.<\/p>\n

In particular, he examines whether persistent criticism of this key villain might be a result of flaws inadvertently introduced by the relatively late switch from two films to three.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Did Azog defile An Unexpected Journey?<\/h3>\n

By Rud the Spud<\/b><\/p>\n

Azog is an aspect of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that has perturbed me for some time now.<\/p>\n

Did he or didn’t he work in An Unexpected Journey? And, if not, was he the victim of the late change from two to three films?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if it was the massive hype (which I\u2019m glad there is less of for Desolation of Smaug), the huge expectations off the back of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy or whether it was simply the basic love for the book itself, but I found An Unexpected Journey mildly disappointing. <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, I enjoyed it and I loved so many aspects of it but there remains an uneasy feeling that I\u2019ve only recently been able to define.<\/p>\n

And that is Azog.<\/p>\n

AZOG IN THE TOLKIEN’S LEGENDARIUM<\/h4>\n

\"Azanulbizar\"
The Battle of Azanulbizar.<\/figcaption><\/figure> Azog is mentioned only briefly in Tolkien\u2019s original novel and expanded upon in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings. We learn that Thorin\u2019s grandfather Thr\u00f3r went to Moria with only one other dwarf — Nar. There, Thr\u00f3r sought to enter Khazad-d\u00fbm alone. Inside he was discovered by Azog and his orcs. Wherupon, Azog beheaded the dwarven king and carved his name (\u201cAZOG\u201d) on Thr\u00f3r\u2019s forehead before tossing it out the gate where the frightened Nar waited fearfully. <\/p>\n

In Tolkien’s Legendarium, the Battle of Azanulbizar was fought in retaliation for this dishonour. <\/p>\n

In An Unexpected Journey, the battle is condensed into Thr\u00f3r\u2019s large-scale attempt to retake Moria. It is during this battle that Azog decapitates him in the film. Events are altered: in the book it was N\u00e1in, father of D\u00e1in Ironfoot, who Azog slew. And it was D\u00e1in (who will be played by Billy Connolly in There and Back Again) who leapt after Azog and hewed off his head before Moria’s East Gate. <\/p>\n

At Azanulbizar, Thorin did fight off several orcs with an oak branch, but Tolkien does not report that he went near Azog. But the upshot is that Azog was truly slain in the battle. He does not return; it is his son, Bolg, who nurses the grudge against D\u00e1in and the dwarves. And it is Bolg who leads the wargs and goblins into the Battle of the Five Armies. Bolg’s role in the movies is yet to unfold.<\/p>\n

The alteration of events for the sake of making a concise screenplay is understandable and acceptable. The filmmakers instead use the Azanulbizar to emphasise the heroism of our central character Thorin and establish back stories for Balin and Dwalin. Even the survival of Azog wasn\u2019t a major issue for me initially. It was a little contrived how Thorin believed him to be dead (doesn\u2019t he know how movies work?) but even that was acceptable.<\/p>\n

It was the depiction of Azog that irks me the most. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AZOG’S PHYSICAL DEPICTION<\/h4>\n

\"Lurtz\"
Lurtz swears to Saruman.<\/figcaption><\/figure> One thing that the films of The Lord of the Rings did was show how brilliantly expressive and disgustingly real the orcs could be. The prosthetics produced by WETA Workshop for the likes of Gothmog, Lurtz and Grishnakh prove that real, believable performances could be obtained through these faces of latex. The question and complaint from many critics of Azog is: “Why did he have to be a Computer Generated character?”. <\/p>\n

It was clear that prosthetics could work, including the full-body skin suits that were used for Lurtz in Fellowship of the Ring. However all of this can be argued but the following theory requires some reading between the lines of the publicity machine.<\/p>\n

Azog was nowhere to be seen in trailers or production diaries. He could have been a very well kept secret but WETA Digital in their online featurette explain how:<\/p>\n

“Azog was one of the last characters on The Hobbit to get design approval. Originally cast as an actor in prosthetics, Peter Jackson decided that Azog really needed to stand out from the rest of the orcs, so Azog became the seven-foot pale orc we see in the film. This meant a very condensed time frame to bring him up to scratch.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/a>
A life-size Azog replica statue at San Diego Comic-con.<\/figcaption><\/figure> From this, we can conclude that they would’ve been under pressure to quickly produce good Azog shots. They go on to say that “whereas with other CG characters, we had developed from scratch, it can take months before they start feeling right, but with a bit of luck and a lot of artistry and technical know-how, Azog showed up in shots pretty much fully formed.”<\/p>\n

To me, this sounds like those shots would have to do because they didn\u2019t have the time to let the character design evolve and start feeling right. <\/p>\n

Was the whole process rushed for Azog?<\/p>\n

Is that why the final product unfortunately reminds me of a video game boss, rather than a believable character such as Gollum?<\/p>\n

The Trolls and the Goblin King looked fantastic because the team had plenty of time to refine them. You almost forget about Gollum being a CG character because he’s so seamlessly created. By contrast, Azog appears almost as an afterthought, inserted to provide An Unexpected Journey with a Lurtz that it sorely lacked. The life-size statue of Azog at this year\u2019s San Diego Comic-Con adds weight to the argument that he looks much better in real life, but because they simply ran out of time, that wasn’t an option. <\/p>\n

GAME OF THRONES INFLUENCE?<\/h4>\n

\"khal-drogo\"
Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones.<\/figcaption><\/figure> Another notable difference about the Gundabad orcs of An Unexpected Journey compared to those from The Lord of the Rings is that they speak a dialect of Black Speech. This, too, felt out of place. The accents of Middle-earth became fairly well established within the films of The Lord of the Rings. <\/p>\n

Elves and Men used a well-spoken neutral English accent. Most Hobbits spoke with West Country English or Scottish accents. Even the Corsairs of Umbar, as briefly as they were depicted, spoke with a Northern English accent. Of course there are some exceptions to this but as a whole they remain consistent and more importantly established in our minds. <\/p>\n

(A note on of the Dwarves accents: because Gimli was the only dwarf to speak in LOTR, they had a lot more flexibility to expand on these so within The Hobbit we get Northern English, Scottish and even Northern Irish accent (much akin to my own!)) <\/p>\n

The orcs of The Lord of the Rings movies spoke with Cockney accents. It was consistent throughout the films amongst Isengard and Mordor orcs. It allowed the actors to use an accent that has the ability to come across as rough and aggressive. This was so effectively established that even though they never actually speak, one can imagine the Moria goblins speaking the same way. Why then change this trend in The Hobbit? What was wrong with the Cockney of the orcs in The Lord of the Rings films? It is possible that they chose not to depict the Cockney accent so consistently in a negative light this time round, but I have another theory to explain the change. <\/p>\n

This is entirely my own opinion, but it seems that opting for Black Speech could’ve been an imitation of the Dothraki from the Game of Thrones TV series. The Dothraki, for those who are unfamiliar, are a horde of barbaric horselords with their own guttural language (also called Dothraki). <\/p>\n

Their leader, Khal Drogo, gives some very aggressive speeches, made all the more intimidating by the sound of this harsh-sounding Dothraki language. Could this have inspired the AUJ filmmakers to go in the same direction with their new orcs? Especially seeing as Tolkien\u2019s world is built primarily on his languages. Even the physical depiction of Azog is somewhat reminiscent of Khal Drogo with the exposed upper body with no armour. That, added with Azog speaking Black Speech, presents some striking similarities.<\/p>\n

Compare these two scenes and try not to see the similarities between these two characters.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
[Khal Drogo Speech<\/a>] | [Azog Gets Angry<\/a>]<\/h5>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Early in my watching of AUJ, I noticed that reading the subtitles and watching Azog\u2019s face was a bit of a distraction. I have nothing against subtitles, I just found that on top of a character that was visually not as strong as one would hope, this was yet another distraction. I found myself unable to see the little nuances in the digital performance because I was reading. This usually isn\u2019t an issue with live action performances because our eyes are accustomed to pick up these nuances in human faces even at a glance. <\/p>\n

Azog however is an unfamiliar non-human face with slightly different expressions that I feel require a little more attention for the audience to be able to appreciate fully. The use of Black Speech was another detail that distracts the audience. I very feel that the cockney accents would\u2019ve worked here and would fit in a lot more with what has already been established within Peter Jackson\u2019s universe. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

THE HOBBIT NEEDED A LURTZ<\/h4>\n

\"Lurtz
Lurtz stabbed by Aragorn at the climax of The fellowship of the Ring.<\/figcaption><\/figure> Even if Azog does appear to borrow heavily from Khal Drogo, one must note that Khal Drogo is a very effective character and much loved by Game of Thrones fans. Why then does Azog not have the same effect? <\/p>\n

The lines of good and evil in Game of Thrones are very blurred. Khal Drogo is a ruthless warlord and we know the barbaric things this man is done, however as a character he is redeemed by his love and devotion to his wife Danaerys. Azog has none of these redeeming factors, nor does he need them. He is the villain whom we\u2019re not supposed to like.<\/p>\n

Peter Jackson often expressed how Fellowship of the Ring was tricky because Sauron and Saruman stayed in their towers the whole time. The character of Lurtz, the captain of the Uruk-hai sent to capture the hobbits (invented for the film, I might add), provided the filmmakers a physical villain for the movie that our heroes could actually fight. He was a specific orc who we could grow to hate and who added gravitas to Boromir\u2019s death. <\/p>\n

As Lurtz snarls and aims that last arrow point blank at Boromir’s face, the audience is seething. As Aragorn jumps in to save the day and has the visceral showdown with Lurtz, the audience is treated to a climactic fight. I still cheer every time Aragorn lops his head off. An Unexpected Journey, without Azog, once again lacked that central villain. Smaug was miles away and not even revealed in this film. The Trolls, the Goblin King and even Gollum are incidental characters and challenges that the Company encounters along the way. No build-up was required, nor would it make sense. <\/p>\n

AN UNEXPECTED CLIMAX<\/h4>\n

\"Azog<\/a>
Azog and white warg at the climax of An Unexpected Journey.<\/figcaption><\/figure> Having chopped Mirkwood from the end of An Unexpected Journey, the filmmakers no longer [SPOILERS] have the elves or the spiders to dislike at the end of this movie or the Barrels Out of Bond to deliver an action climax. I\u2019m pretty certain the last scene with the dwarves and Bilbo in An Unexpected Journey was always going to be the same, it was simply transplanted from the end of Mirkwood to the foothills of the Misty Mountains. The transplant brought a major problem, though: Bilbo hadn\u2019t proven yet himself to the dwarves. <\/p>\n

By the time they\u2019ve gone beyond Mirkwood, Bilbo has driven off the spiders single-handedly and organised the escape of the dwarves through the barrels. Once coming to shore, having half-drowned in the barrels, you can imagine Thorin saying:<\/p>\n

“You! What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed! Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in The Wild? And you had no place amongst us? And I have never been so wrong in all my life!” <\/p>\n

Because, at this point, Bilbo has proven his courage. The dwarves have begun to look to him as a leader. And it is indeed here, in the book, that Bilbo and Company first set eyes on the Lonely Mountain which again reinforces my theory that this scene was first intended to be the closing scene of An Unexpected Journey. <\/p>\n

We have one major problem however by transplanting this scene to where it ended up; Bilbo had not yet proven himself to the dwarves. The result is a contrived, rushed climax.<\/p>\n

My least favourite part of An Unexpected Journey is the point where all the dwarves are stranded out on the tree dangling over the edge of the cliff. Thorin and Azog spot each other and Thorin thinks:<\/p>\n

“Oh yeah, I forgot we need a showdown at the end of this film!”<\/p>\n

He gets up and runs back to face Azog with some very forced slow-motion shots and a very out-of-place Ringwraiths Theme attempting to make this the film’s most impressive scene. <\/p>\n

At least it is realistic how Azog and his white warg quickly dispense with the tiny Thorin (still, the less said about a mace to the face causing only a broken lip, the better). Then the film falls into painful clich\u00e9 as Azog gets one of his henchmen to slowly bring him the dwarf\u2019s head leaving a convenient opening for Bilbo to save Thorin\u2019s life. <\/p>\n

It still induces a little roll of the eyes every time I watch it. After such a great film, it falls at that last hurdle. Whether Azog was always going to be there is questionable; I almost get the feeling that he was shoe-horned in, along with some more of those Azog scenes to give An Unexpected Journey a Lurtz-style character.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

CONCLUSION<\/h4>\n

\"Thorin<\/a>
Thorin confronts Azog.<\/figcaption><\/figure> So did Azog work? Unfortunately I don\u2019t think he did. You can see the formula of his creation and expansion. You can see why the decisions were (probably) made. Unfortunately the execution is weak. Azog, so far just hasn\u2019t met the hatefulness of Lurtz, the dark fear of the Witch-king or even the creepiness of Grishnakh as far as Middle-earth villains go. <\/p>\n

Yes, as a character, he should stand independently in his own right, but Azog doesn\u2019t. There are too many distractions for the audience to fully invest in him. Between rushed design, distracting language and a contrived climax, I feel that Azog really has fallen victim to the change from two to three movies.<\/p>\n

My hopes lie in the fact that, while An Unexpected Journey did have a clumsy chop to end it, the filmmakers have more time to craft the next two films on their own terms. Along with this, I hope the visual effects artists will be given the time to work on and improve on Azog\u2019s appearance and natural performance — much like the vast improvement Gollum experienced between Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. <\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see how Azog compares to the likes of Bolg who should appear in The Desolation of Smaug and who is portrayed in a prosthetics suit. I have every confidence that The Desolation of Smaug will be a great improvement on An Unexpected Journey as it brings us into totally new, unfamiliar places where we haven\u2019t seen before. We\u2019d seen Rivendell before in The Lord of the Rings, we\u2019d seen The Shire, but we haven\u2019t seen Mirkwood or Lake-town. Azog is now a chief villain in these films and I hope that he is improved upon to stand up to the likes of Gothmog, the Witch-king of Angmar and Sauron himself. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s just hope I won\u2019t be writing this same article on Smaug! <\/p>\n

Roll on December!<\/p>\n

John D Ruddy is an Irish actor, artist, writer and Tolkien enthusiast. When he’s not on the Irish stage, he can be found illustrating books and playing the trumpet. He writes the webcomic Manny Man which can be found on Facebook<\/a>. You can also follow him on Twitter<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The views and opinions presented in this article are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of TheOneRing.net or its staff.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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