A Hobbit's Holiday

Count me in that group who has only a slight affection for Peter Jackson's vision of Lord of the Rings. So I'm only half enthused at the idea seeing what Jackson will do to The Hobbit. I feel that Jackson is a superficial filmmaker at best, who reduced Tolkien's magnum opus to a buddy flick where two pals overthrow the bad guy, and the youngsters rail against the cranky old folks who don't get it. Perhaps Jackson will allow someone else to write, and stick to producing (he appeared good at setting an overall vision). Then it might have a chance to capture more of Tolkien's magic. Otherwise, at its best it won't be any better than the Rankin/Bass animated special of the late 70s. At its worst, it will be another slide down to the pits of Arwen, elf warrior princess.