Towards the end of The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien’s heroic quartet of hobbits return to the Shire and find that all has changed utterly. Their bucolic home has been turned into an industrial dystopia, the mystery and beauty of Middle Earth replaced by a hellscape of brickwork factories – all at the behest of the fallen wizard Saruman, who has embarked on a new career as medieval corporate overlord, a sort of early tech bro in a funny hat.
Much the same seems to be happening to Peter Jackson’s justifiably adored adaptation of Tolkien’s fantasy saga. As fans mark the 25th anniversary of the first volume of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, the director has spoiled the…