Synopsis: So now we know what little Christopher Paolini was doing with his time while he was supposedly being home-schooled, and writing the "Inheritance" fantasy novel trilogy.
Eragon, the film based on Mr. Paolini’s precocious fantasy novel, is about a boy fulfilling his destiny, an inscrutable mentor, a daring dungeon rescue of a fair maiden, a big battle between the "rebel" forces of good and those of the Dark Lord.
The kid’s got to fly a dragon into battle to save humanity. No biggie.
Eragon introduces handsome young Ed Speleers as Eragon, a boy abandoned by his parents, left behind by his older, hunkier cousin who flees the army recruiters (foreshadowing, foreshadowing). Then, this huge magical jellybean falls into Eragon’s hands, and next thing you know, a cuddly little dragon hatches.
A mentor (Jeremy Irons) arrives. Even though the lad is "one part fool, to three parts brave," he trains him. For a day or so.
But the dragon grows up so fast! They all do. And she (who has the voice of Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz) and Eragon set off on a quest to meet the Varden, led by Djimon Hounsou, where they’ll help battle evil king John Malkovich and his sadistic sorcerer henchman, Robert Carlyle ( Trainspotting).
It’s a mash-up, to be sure, with elves, or at least elvish language, ogres, shape-shifting wizards and Black Riders. Only they don’t have horses.
All looking for Princess Leia and the One Ring of Power. Or not.
The movie plays like a script written by a teenager, a smorgasbord of fantasy plot points, character types and brawls. The experienced actors earn the big bucks just for keeping straight faces.
It’s all quite silly, but with sharp production values (director Stefen Fangmeir comes from the visual effects department) and lovely, under-utilized Hungarian locations.
Not the worst dragon movie ever. Not whilst Dragonheart hangs heavy on the memory. But chalk this one up as strictly for kids, home-schooled or not.
Conclusion: Yes, it was ok – it was a bit slow, and not a lot of direction. There were some good fight scenes, but not enough to keep me interested. One thing that did grate on me was this suposed farm boy with a perfect "upper class" accent – very strange.. Lets hope the other parts of this trilogy are a little better.