A 'darker' Hobbit

[Sauron the White]

WCH - Ridley Scott did his own version - it was called LEGEND and it sucked bigtime. Heroic fantasy has been something of quicksand for many filmmakers and Scott is just one example. The fact that Jackson did the three films and they had such huge success on several fronts is a profound statement in and of itself.

You claim the films are shallow. To support this you claim

There is nothing intellectually challenging, and what little tone of high seriousness to be found is quickly dispersed by the next popcorn-movie moment.

Sounds to me like you are a "glass is half empty" kind of person. Moments such as the funeral song sung by Eowyn is far from shallow and resembles nothing in pupl slam bam fiction. We have many soft moments such as the conversation about life and death between Gandalf and Frodo in Moria, Arwens vision of a child, Arwen by the tomb of Aragorn, Theoden reciting as he puts on his armor, the four hobbits back in the pub treated as strangers by the rest of the world they saved, ... all that and more. If Jackson wanted to make a mere sword and sorcery epic, none of that would have been in there. None of it.

SHALLOW says to me that it is very one dimensional and that single dimension is without nuance or subtlety. The scenes I mentioned put that claim to rest. And there are more. Many more.

If all you want to see is the action - that is your choice. Just admit your biases going in.