Akwat Kbrana, I again appreciate this review. It's amazing to read the disparities between the movie critics and general fanbase. Like you said, it seems to be a fad to criticize Jackson (kinda like Lucas bashing!--but I can justify the latter a little more, though not to the extent that I regularly read). The Hobbit should be very different from LOTR, and if the film succeeds at this, even if it is expanding the material, that's great. As long as he's not aiming for the same type of epic, acknowledging what the movie is, then that's fantastic. My heart had been a little broken looking at Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics give it a 65%, but the fans give it an 81%. And considering how I respect the opinions of so many here, I feel pretty confident that I will enjoy it :)