I fail to see the argument that this “isn’t Tolkien.”

Sure, the story is based on appendices because that’s all they could license, but the tone and mythology feel spot on.
After two episodes, we’ve already gotten to see things I never thought we would, such as the path Frodo and co. took to cross over to Valinor at the end of LOTR. Or Khazad Dum before it was a ruin, when the world was so much younger.

And there’s so much potential yet to come (I haven’t watched the trailers so this me based on 2 eps):

the re-emergence of Sauron in his “fair” form
the dwarves discovery of mithril that leads to the destruction of Moria (ie the waking of a balrog)
potentially the creation of a wizard
of course, the creation of the rings of power, and them backfiring in the same way as the silmarils.
Sauron and perhaps other balrogs in fair form tempting and corrupting the kings of men.

And the opening title sequence is an incredible metaphorical representation of the music of the Maiar, showing how Melkor corrupted it with his dissonance.

This thing is just dripping with the Tolkien lore and I don’t get what the issue is.