It's a product of the time it was written in, but it's not terrible in terms of inclusivity. There are strong female characters as you mentioned, though the main characters are all male (I heard Eowyn was added when his daughter became old enough to ask why there weren't any women heroes).
I think the Hobbit at least can be introduced fairly young. I read the Lord of the Rings in grade 3 but that's probably toward the young side. I've also read the Silmarillion and a couple of the lost tales compilations but haven't tried to go through all the posthumous publications.
I disagree with the "cool effects" being a good part of the Hobbit movies - I think they would have been better if there was a lot less CGI and the extended action sequences were chopped down.
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