[Vanders9]

Yes I concur with all your statements, although with the Hobbit its sort of understandable, because there really isnt that much plot and characters to go with. The book is quite short.

[sphinx]

Yes, the book is short. PJ should have been satisfied with one movie, or two at the very most. The bloat is entirely due to PJ running away with over the top comic book stuff, all of which does violence to the book.

One movie could have been excellent. PJ had the vision and technical chops to bring Tolkein's world to life. But he's thrown it away with self-indulgent junk.