I want to make one thing very clear, before we move on. I love the Lord of the Rings movies. While they were not following the books to the letter they were close enough that I recognized almost everything. The Nazgul were scary, the Fellowship was extremely well cast, and even Cate Blanchet as Galadriel worked out very well.
There was one thing however that really, really bothered me from the first moment it appeared. Gimli, son of Gloin, was portrayed as a buffoon.
Gimli is originally a fearsome and very competent warrior, a 4'10'' and 350 lbs of solid muscle, covered in mithril, carrying a large axe. He has a strong sense of honor and duty, and he is very scary when he is angry. He is also a beyond being a professional warrior, it's a lifestyle for him, not a job. He has trained for life on the battlefield since before he could walk, and he is capable of taking out five orcs with that axe, without help, despite the differences in height.
And in the movies he is used almost entirely for comic relief. This angers me.
Gimli is badass, a great warrior, and a very frightening one at that. He should not be diminished in this way.
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That pissed me off to no end as well. They made Legolas a killing machine without equal but reduced Gimli to a clown who was just around for the ride.
They could have shown the differences in style between the two of them so that both came out looking good, but Jackson chose instead to turn him into a throwaway character.
Think about how they could have displayed Gimli. As you said, he is 350 lbs of solid muscle and has trained for likely a couple of human lifetimes for combat. He could have filled the opposite of Legolas' finesse niche. He could have been the shock troop, an unstoppable tank of a fighter.
You are absolutely right. Unforgiveable.
I agree with both of you.
You just have to try and see Gimli in the book and Gimli in the movie as two different characters...
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