Eragon (15 December 2006)
directed by Stefen Fangmeier
starring Edward Speleers, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlylye, John Malkovich, Garrett Hedlund, Alun Armstrong, Christopher Egan, Gary Lewis, Djimon Hounsou, Rachel Weisz, Richard Rifkin, Steve Spiers, Joss Stone
|
MPAA rating: Studio: 20th Century Fox, Davis Entertainment, Dune Entertainment, Ingenious Film Partners, Major Studio Partners Script: Peter Buchman Based on the book by: Christopher Paolini Music: Patrick Doyle Running time: 104 minutes Tags: Action; Adventure; dragons; dwarves; elves; Fantasy; magic; novel adaptation; swords; war Tactical strength: [5/10]
|
for fantasy violence, intense battle sequences and some frightening images
To properly cover the movie Eragon, I need to write two separate reviews. First, I need to write a review to the people who will just see the move and never read the book. Next, I need to address the people who read the book before going to the movie. (This second review will also prepare those who decide to read the book after seeing the movie for some of the huge differences.)
If you have never read the book Eragon, then the movie provides a simple yet satisfying teen adventure story. Eragon (Edward Speleers), a seventeen-year old farm boy, goes hunting in the forest. Just before he shoots a deer, he sees a blinding flash and finds a giant blue stone on the forest floor. He takes the stone home, and a dragon hatches from the stone. Telepathically, just about every major character knows at once that the dragon has hatched. The king Galbatorix (John Malkovich) dispatches Durza (Robert Carlyle) to kill the new dragon rider. You see, in the past, the dragon riders ruled the land, until Galbatorix killed all the other dragon riders and made himself king. He now rules dictatorially, crushing rebellions with sorcery, his dragon, and armies of Urgals -- basically men who look like fierce, tattooed Scots.
Several of Durza's agents come to Eragon's town and torture and kill Eragon's uncle. With the help of Brom (Jeremy Irons) -- the crusty town storyteller -- Eragon manages to escape the town and start a quest to reach the Varden, the anti-Galbatorix resistance fighters. Brom, of course, once rode a dragon and begins training Eragon in the ways of the Dragon Riders. Midway through the trip to the Varden, Eragon has visions of Arya (Sienna Guillory), an elf held captive and tortured by Durza. Eragon decides to rescue Arya before making his way to the Varden. During the rescue, Eragon receives help from Murtagh (Garrett Hedlund), who seems important but obviously for something in the sequel. After the rescue, Eragon and friends continue their journey to join the Varder. Of course a dragon flying to the Varden's hideout makes it easy for the king's spies to discover the Varden, and the king mounts a huge attack that could spell the end of the resistance.
To wrap up the review for those who have not read the book, you can expect pretty typical acting for this type of movie. Sure, John Malkovich makes a great bad guy, but he only gets about three minutes of screen time. Jeremy Irons's talent goes almost completely untouched, but Edward Speleers does an excellent job as Eragon, especially when expressing the normal concerns a teenager would have about having the hopes of an entire continent thrust on him. All in all, you get a fun adventure in the medium-budget range, so you have pretty decent effects with some obvious low-budget solutions in several places. Eragon provides a fun adventure that ramps up to a climactic battle.
For those of you who have read the book, you have to know that Peter Buchman's screenplay makes huge deviations from Paolini's book. People die at the wrong times, journeys to two major locations get cut completely, the details of the Varden city Tronjheim get completely eliminated, along with the importance of the dwarves. The movie's ending also lacks some critical elements required to have the plot in the second book, Eldest, make sense at all. A movie sequel would probably make even greater deviations, although frankly the elements in Eldest really don't provide much material for an exciting adventure movie -- except the big battle at the end.
I don't think that Paolini created a wonderful masterpiece, but the screenplay striped away most of the elements of Eragon that made it unique and interesting. We derive some of our interest in fantasy stories in learning the physics and history of the land. We have just as much interest in the mechanics of the magic system as we do about the history of the various races of elves, dwarves, humans, and dragons. The movie glides over so many of these details, that the movie feels hollow and doesn't provide nearly as satisfactory an experience as reading the book.
Related Reviews
Eragon written by Christopher Paolini
Eldest written by Christopher Paolini
Related Items from Amazon.com
  DVD |   Hardcover |   Hardcover |   Boxed Set |
