With high production values, several esteemed actors, and stunning CG effects, Eragon should have been the next Lord of the Rings. But the rushed character development, lackluster screenplay, and a starkly plagiaristic plotline prevent it from even becoming the next Narnia. In concept and visualization Eragon‘s delusions of grandeur may not have been so farfetched, but apparently something was lost in the translation to screen and it falters and dies like the dragon who’s lost its rider.
In a galaxy far, far away, a young farm boy is granted mysterious powers and becomes the only hope left for a group of rebels to overthrow an evil emperor. When his uncle is killed by a dark lord’s troops, the young man flees his home, and with the aid of a wise old man who teaches him the ways of the force he has gained, attempts to rescue a princess from an enemy stronghold. His mentor slain in the ensuing fight against the dark lord, the young man continues recklessly onward to the hidden rebel base, and upon his arrival joins forces with them to fight off the dark lord’s army in a final epic battle. Oh, wait… is that Star Wars? Apparently it’s Eragon too.
I never would have thought I’d want to see another epic fantasy trilogy movie to actually be longer, but clocking in at well under two hours, Eragon could have used a beefier running time. Everything happens in the blink of an eye; a farm boy becomes a hero, a princess is rescued, an evil sorcerer is vanquished, and a baby dragon becomes a full grown dragon in, well… actually that does happen in literally the blink of an eye. Faster than Simba can walk across a branch and become a Lion King, characters are introduced and then killed off, villains appear and are then vanquished, and a band of rebels battle an army and emerge victorious. But there is no victory in the torpid character development and the plot truly suffers from the rushed feel. If the filmmakers wish to involve the audience emotionally as well as visually, they will have to allow characters a chance to fully develop before they are dispatched and never heard from again.
The strongest point of Eragon is its visuals, but CG effects alone cannot carry a film. The dragon Saphira (voiced by Rachel Weisz) is simply stunning in every scene in which it appears, blending seamlessly with its backgrounds. From grotesquely rotting henchmen to the billowing smoky demon that Durza commands, the talented animators at WETA and ILM never cease to amaze. Unfortunately not all the character designs were as insightful and unique, as the dimwitted Urgals and even Durza himself was quite bland in comparison to the villains in Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. The final battle at the end of the film was brimming with potential as a fire-breathing dragon joined in the mayhem, but perhaps the PG rating stifled the visceral impact of any carnage finding its way onscreen. But that’s really no excuse for a languid showdown as the rather tame onslaught in Narnia was still more exciting.
The actors all did a fine job with their performances, but they had very little to work with as the oftentimes downright miserable script created several scenes of cringe inducing dialogue and unintentionally hilarious remarks. Conversations between key players did little to further the story or enhance character development and extremely predictable dialogue lessened the visual impact. Djimon Hounsou seemed miscast as the rebel leader with his heavy accent, while John Malkovich and Robert Carlyle laid on the evilness with enough cheese to feed the cast of Flushed Away. Lines like “you’ll have to do better than that,” and “let’s finish this!” in climactic moments made me wonder if I was watching a bad Star Wars fan film. Even Rachel Weisz couldn’t save her majestic character from an audience outburst of immature laughs when she mentions something about Eragon needing to ride her.
It’s hard to imagine what went wrong with the first part of this trilogy, but I can’t honestly recommend seeing the film to find out. Suffice it to say that the rushed character development, atrocious screenplay, and unabashed imitation converge to create a paltry effort that pales in comparison to fantasy epics like The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Chronicles of Narnia. As Jeremy Irons’ Brom would say, “it is better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission,” and the creators of this contemptible film may be doing a lot of the former to the legions of fans of Paolini’s novel.
– MoviePulse
Alex says
I think you were far too kind in your review of this movie. Eragon the Movie is to the book as Batman and Robin is to Batman. I read the two books and loved them mainly for the relationships between characters. I was hoping for this to be maintained, but it was pretty badly dishonred. Irons was accurate but that’s all. And the fight scenes with the cheesy lines you mentioned? Not in the book. That’s what you get for selling rights to Fox.
Magess says
I’ve never read the books, but I have to imagine that they are better than this movie. Maybe they also are Star Wars, but many stories are. There was no characterization in the movie, as you say. I think three days passed over the course of it, and in that time Eragon learns how to fight and bond with his dragon so he can fight from her tail. I mean, Eragon is the hero and I didn’t even really -like- him. And that kid that followed him with the bow and helped him? What was his name again? He was kinda interesting. Clearly thrown in for the people who knew the books, because he pretty pointless in movie.
Kurt says
In four words: Read the book instead.
dingosatemybaby says
I havent seen the movie or read the book, but my 12 yr old daughter and her entire book club (another 9 kids) went to see this movie this weekend.
They had read and loved the book last year for their club and loved it. ALL of them *HATED* the movie with a passion. My daughter’s exact quote was “That was the biggest piece of garbage I think I’ve ever seen.”
./D
Summer Brooks says
Wow, if the kids aren’t happy with this, then there may be little or no hope of the sequels being made.
I hope for the author’s sake it doesn’t affect future book sales, either.
Sam says
Oh boy…if the very target audience they were shooting for hates this, then goodbye sequel time.
Kurt says
I can understand changing things here and there between the book and the film. A line from Character A is said by Character B, Tom Bombidil is dropped, no SPEW, etc.
But I spent essentially every single scene in the film repeating the same phrase:
“That didn’t happen that way!”
In the end, what felt like the only thing left from the original material was the character names, and the vaguest semblance of the plot.
It was almost as if the Studio Suits said “Sum it up in one paragraph, and base the movie on the paragraph.”
Emma says
To be truthfully honest…the movie really really…sucked. If you are thinking of seeing the movie, just read the book instead. The book is the reason I spent 10 dollars to go to a movie theatre. I sat in the audiance very excited, and when it came on, most of the plot disapeard. The characters seemed to come in really fast and than leave even faster. If you are really considering going to the movie, go ahead but please read the book first so you won’t be confused
Tony says
The fan reviews are very accurate and to the point. the movie sucked royally. If there were any positive reviews they must have came from some middle aged suit-wearing buisness man who had never in his life read Paolini’s first two books. i agree with the statement that alot of the movies mojo came from the characters relationship. the director of the movie had all the neccecary tools to create gold but instead he created crap. i’m not even sure he even read the book. to be honest i really hope they don’t create the rest of the series b/c the director screwed eragon up so much that either someone would have to remake it or he would have alot to rewrite for eldest and the third book. i really hope that Paolini cancels the movies and continues to write his book. the book was 100 times better.
rebecca says
what the hell do u people know about imagination you kinda need it to enjoy the movie im sorry to say this but im against you all in this the movie was great and if it was like the book it would take hours to watch but you dont see that…the book is great too but hey there are people in the world that like this movie you know i think Paolini did a great job and should continue the movies i really dont care what u guys think but u guys think what u want about it thats your opinion but this is mine and guess what im sure many agree with me so suck it up Paolini shouldnt have to cancel his movies just because some of you didnt like it.
Sam says
If you go strictly by box office totals then this film was only a marginal success. It cost $100 million to make. In the US, after nearly 5 months in theaters in has only drawn approx. $75 million in receipts with around $171 million internationally over that same period. That gives it a total box office tally of about $247 million. Not the blockbuster the studio was hoping for , but enough to probably warrant another, even lesser expensive, followup film.