Take two parts Star Wars, two parts Lord of the Rings, one part Dragonheart, and a dash of Harry Potter, mix well. Serves as many as will pay.
That seems to have been the recipe for the genesis of Eragon, the latest attempt to create a fantasy film franchise based on a popular novel. Sadly, it doesn't have enough verve and vigor to inspire much passion. Eragon is essentially a 95-minute trailer for the second film. By the time the end rolls around, it doesn't feel like we got anywhere — it's just beginning to pick up steam and it's over.
Before you ask, no, I have not read the novel, and no, I have no real intention of ever doing so. It isn't that I don't read or anything like that, I just don't care for fantasy novels. Films are a different beast. I do give much credit to author Christopher Paolini, who wrote the novel, the first of a trilogy, when he was 15 or so, and published at 17.
If you have seen Star Wars or Lord of the Rings you are going to see a lot of similarities here. The farm boy is the "chosen one" believed to be able to lead a rebellion against a corrupt and evil king and his dark minions. There is the wise man who knows just what lessons he needs to learn to put him on the right track, there are the hordes of bad guys hot on their trail, the boy must overcome his own lack of self-confidence to realize his destiny — I had the distinct feeling I had seen all of this before and better.
The narrative sputters along, consisting of mostly exposition and very little motion. There is some background on who the dragon riders are and their connections to their dragons, a quick recap of how the king came to be in power, and a bit on the rebellion. The whole project is held back by a poor script that fails to develop any meaningful relationships between any of the characters. I found myself not really caring what happened to them; there was no emotion behind their actions, so why should I feel anything for them?
The dialogue is clunky, and many of the lines are kind of hard to wrap a tongue around to deliver believably. Jeremy Irons and John Malkovich make an admirable effort to make their roles interesting, but it looked like they knew they were in a poor movie and were just having a little fun with it, Malkovich in particular.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - David Braswell
umm im sorry i just got home from the theaters and i (regretably) went and saw Eragon. teh movie made me want to gauge my eyes out and scream. the major problems were that it hardly followed the book "at all" and since when did the fucking dragon suddenly grow in less than 2 seconds and also since when did Eragon go to the Vardin before the trolls, Erago ndefently goes to the troll's capitol and then to the Vardin in the second book. the movie just totally ruined it for me and i wouldn't recommend it to anyone who loved the awesome and perfectly written book.
2 - Paige
I have never been more disappointed in a movie... When I saw it in theatres I was awed by Saphira. She was beautiful... but she didn't have feathers (that annoyed me). SEVERAL parts of the book were missing... The Twins test, Solembum's 'help', Elva's blessing, the Dwarves Sapphire shattering to kill Durza... and numerous others. Actaully, Solembum and the Twins were missing period. If this was the best they could do... it was terrible. I don't see how they plan on writing an acceptable Eldest script or third script.
Fans of the books will find it terrible! If you've never read the book... it passes as barely acceptable.
3 - Bert
Your review was spot on. I actually liked the actors but was disappointed how short a time Jeremy Irons was on screen. Arya was beautiful but not mysterious or magical and never seemed as if she had 4 months of torture before she was rescued. I was disappointed with John Malkovich; it was like he phoned in his performance. Maybe if they have better writers in Eldest, John will have something to work with--he wasn't near a sinister or threatening as Dursa.
Saphira had bat-wings that Aragon had to keep mending and she needed the equivalent female voice of a Sean Connery to be a menacing, all-knowing, psychic dragon!
There was no suspense: no village wiped out by the Kull or no suspenseful chase across plains, desert, and mountains before Aragon reaches the dwarfs. And though the dwarf king was there, he had no name and appeared to be the lieutenant of the Varden King Ajihad. In fact there were no dwarves as allies to the rebel men.
Where were all the dwarf tunnels? Where was the kull monsters turning on each other when Aragon killed Dursa? That was the point: though out-numbered 3 to 1, the rebels never would have won the battle if Aragon had not defeated Dursa. Thus Aragon practically singlehandedly defeated the King's army of men and Urgals. In the book he was a much bigger hero than in the movie!
Why-oh-why would you assign a neophyte director to a film that you hope will be the first of a three movie franchise? At least they didn't film all three movies as once--ala Rings--so now they can fire the director and the writers and try to have a much better movie for number two. Otherwise there never will be a number three!
And why take a 750 page book and make it 90 minutes so that you can show it on TV with commercials and keep it under 2 hours. In fact this was much worse than most made-for-TV movies.
In this day of Lord of Rings, Harry Potter, King Kong and Narnia, audiences are not going to accept a bargain basement unsuspenseful, unloveable, movie nowadays. If the first Star Wars--with 1975 technology--had been this bad, there never would have been 5 more movies! Bah!! It was a waste of my money and my time!!!
4 - Chelsi
That movie was so terribel, I wanted to rant about every little thing they did wrong fo almost a week and I still probably could! Saphira was barely accepatable as a dragon though she have been bigger, had spines and more batlike wings and when she hatched it looked like she had fur rather than scales. Brom (as important a character as he was) died later then he should have, acted like a jerk when he was just a pushy old man and Eragon was older then he should've been and a jerk, Galbatorix should have been passing mention Arya unconcious and Murtagh acted completely different then what he should have.
Characters that were important were taken out, important or intersting scenes removed, and everything else either moved to a spot where it shouldn't have been, or so embelished and flashy with so many special effects that if you had changed the names in the movie I would never have known that it was supposed to be Eragon. Of all the movies I have seen, this one has to be the absolute worst. I absolutely refuse to go see Eldest cause I don't even want to know how they're going to murder it. Personally, if I don't stop typing now, I'll probably rant on everything else they did wrong to so ya, anyone who likes this movie has clearly got no taste in movies at all.
5 - Christine
ok I watched the movie with my friend. I had no idea what the book was about or anything. after watching the movie I read the book in which is Totally different! the details in the book outway the movie in a huge scale. I ercommen reading the book and never stepping foot into the movies for their portrayal because it was half-butt and cheap!
6 - Jessica
It was just terrible. They changed everything and it has nothing to do with the book. Arya just seems like a regular person. She's pretty i guess but not mysterious or magical at all. There are also many missing characters like the Twins and Solumbum.
Plus, everyone was so much meaner in the movie. Especially Brom. And y did everything have to b so dark and gloomy? thats not how i imagined Carvahall.
I dont think they will make a 2nd one. They already revealed who Arya really is and they never even mentioned Katrina.
And they was no character development, eragon suddenly became so strong.
Dont watch the movie its just dissapointing.
7 - Andrew
I never read the book, and I'm sure it's good, but Eragon as a movie sucked big time! I mean, for a movie on a 800 page or so book, it was really short. The film felt like it was rushing to something, skipping character development and explanation of some scenes. I assumed they were trying to get to the battle scene quicker, but the battle, if you can call it that, was about a minute long! I was so dissapointed. the only reason I wanted to see the film was for two things: Arya, she was hot, and the battle scene. The credits must of been really good, because they seemed like the only thing this whole movie was leading to. And what was with the huge, black dragon made out of smoke!? That whole scene didn't make any sense at all.
I didn't care for the actor that played Eragon, and I didn't think you needed Jeremy Irons to play Brom, there are plenty of other oldy actors for that role. the only reason they cast him was because they thought that having him in the movie will bring more people to see it. The same with putting Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai. Unfortunately, the movie's suckiness factored that element out instantly. I thought the Urgals were stupid.
Eragon's cousin and the evil dragon rider's son didn't have any development time on screen. what was the director thinking?
But, a good thing about the movie is the special effects. I think Saphira looked good, and that pointless black, smoke dragon looked good too.
If any of you like the movie, I'm sorry I've been complaining on it so much, but in a way, this movie has stolen not only eight dollars on a movie ticket, but a small part of my life I'll never get back.
8 - Gina
I read the book and I abseloutly loved it. I was hoping for a wonderful movie after the book. Like the Harry Potter books I have to say are always spectacular movies. Eragon in other words SUCKED! It needs a new director PERIOD. Its a disgrace. How can the author let such a horrible film be displayed in public? Well I hope Eldest is a lot better, or I'm going to loose my intrest in the third one.
9 - caticat
My name's Julie. I'm French, I'm 11 and I liked the film. I went to the cinema with my teacher.
The actors are excellent!
10 - Sacha
Hello my name is Sacha I'm from Port de bouc in France .I am 14.My class and me we went to the cinema to see Eragon .I saw this film in december when it was released.I like this because there are dragons and magicians.The sword of Eragon,Arya and Galbatorix are very beautiful and Durza's sword is on fire.I like the fire.
Sacha
11 - speedylasourie nouni 2 port2bouc
We are Guillaume and Younes.We are French.We are 14 and 15 years old. I love Arya and Eragon.The hisory is beautiful but it's long. The actors are excellent!
12 - camille
Hello,my name is camille,I'm french;I'm 15 and I don't like the film.I went to the cinema with my teacher.the actors are beautiful and excellent...
camille
13 - vivian
Hello, I'm Vivian and I'm French. I'm from at Port-de-Bouc next to Marseille. I didn't read the book but I saw the film. I've liking! I've liking because I like Fantastic films, Action film,....
The actors are good(They play good,....).
The scenery is beautiful and natural.
I like the story too.
I think I'm going to read the book.....
14 - Estelle and Marie
estelle: i like the movie because it's fantasy and because eragon is charming. i like magic powers in the movie. Eragon is a good movie.
marie: i like the movie to because the story is goodand i love dragons. I like mangic powers of saphira. I don't like durza because is not beautiful.
we are french and we are 13
15 - Marine
My name is Marine, I am french and I am 14 years old.I didn't read thr book but i went to see the film at the cinema wiht my school.I like the film because it is a beautiful friendship between a dragon and a dragon-rider.the actor is very beautiful in the theatre.
16 - loic
my name is loic.I am 13 years old.I am French.I have not read the books.I saw Eragon about 8 days ago with the school.It's a good film because it's fantastic.Eragon is as interesting as the world of Narnia.the fights are impressive .the story is good.Eragon want to kill Galbatorix and Durza
17 - elisa
My name is Elisa,I am french and I am 14 years old.I saw the film Eragon with my school the 11th june 2007.The film is beautiful I love Eragon
18 - V3G3T0
hello ,my name's Remi,I'm 15,I'm French.I liked the film ,above all the dragon Saphira because I had never seen dragons before.I went to the cinema whith schoolmates and my teacher.
the actors were fabulous .bye bye
remi
19 - emi et dita
hello!my name's emi and me it's dita.we are 14 years old. we are french. We haven't read the book.we saw the film last monday,at film theatre in Port de Bouc with my teacher and my schoolmates. The film Eragon was in english. We liked the film a lot because there are good actors, a beautiful story and it was an action film. It was poignancy and scary.
Bye Bye!Emi and Dita
20 - les boss du 13
Hello! my name's fabien and eva.we are 15 years old.we are french.we haven't read the book.we saw the film.it was in english.we liked the film because it's sad.The story is beautiful.
ERAGON is good-looking.
BYEBYE KISS
FABIEN AND EVA
21 - Kimimarine
My name is Marine. I'm 14 . I'm french
I saw the film with my school the 11th june 2007 but I didn't read the book because it's very big .
I love eragon because it's a beautiful film , saphira is beautiful , Eragon falls in love with Arya .
Marine
22 - gwendoline and julien
Hello !
We are called gwendoline and julien .
We have 14 years .
We are french.
We did not read the book of eragon.
we saw the film Monday June 11 in English with our English teacher with the cinema.
We liked film because it is very interessente but we not understand anything because i slep all the duration of film.
23 - amine de la leque
my name is amine,I'm French .I'm 14 years old.I liked the film BECAUSE i had never seen dragons before .I saw the film Eragon whith my school MONDAY 11 JUNE.I like the film because it is fanstastic.bye bye
amine
24 - gwendoline and julien
Hello !
We are called gwendoline and julien .
We have 14 years .
We are french.
We did not read the book of eragon.
we saw the film Monday June 11 in English with our English teacher with the cinema.
We liked film because it is very interessent but we not understand anything because i slep all the duration of film.
25 - jojomoto
My name is joshua . I am FRENH.I am 14 years old.
i saw the film ERAGON with my school on MONDAY 11 JUNE. I like the film because it is fa fanstastic .I have not read the book but i like the film.I like the dragon in the film.
BYE BYE !!!!!!!
JOSHUA