Though expectations for Anne Hathaway and James Franco’s success as this year’s Oscar co-hosts were generally low among experts and audiences alike, the pair pleasantly surprised critics with the humor and enthusiasm they brought to the stage this evening.

Specifically, the pair’s comical opening tour through this year’s Best Picture nominees was a favorite among viewers and critics.

Contributors from Fox News were “shocked to see that the two were actually kind of funny,” judging that “their monologue on stage was a little awkward,” but the opening skit had them laughing nonetheless.

Another favorite moment of the opening was Franco’s witty exchange with his grandmother, who was sitting nearby in the audience.

Some experts, however, were dissatisfied with the act’s supposed lack of originality. Jen Chaney of The Washington Post, for example, states that Hathaway and Franco’s act “didn’t reinvent any Oscar traditions, but it was funny.”

Contrarily, Torie Bosch of AOL news interpreted the duo’s act as “Saturday Night Live-esque,” positing that “the pair were selected to make the awards show seem a little younger” than it has in previous years.

Even Franco and Hathaway themselves alluded to their youthful image with Franco starting, "Anne, I must say you look so beautiful, and so hip," and Hathaway replying, "Thank you, James, you look very appealing to a younger demographic yourself."

The consensus among experts seems to be favorable in the sense that the co-hosts’ performance was surprisingly entertaining, but whether the young pair’s presentation was popular enough for the two to be invited back to host future awards shows remains in question.