Eragon

Eragon
Directed by Stefen Fangmeier
104 minutes
2.39:1

Two words that describe this movie succinctly: plodding and uninvolving.

You can't really screw up with a movie about dragons. Either with a wise ol' dragon like Draco in Dragonheart or the many ferocious dragons in Reign Of Fire, the flying sequences alone are enough to get movie audiences excited. But something is amiss when even those sequences made by the top effects houses in the world cannot save the movie.


The movie is a coming of age story. Eragon is a teenage boy who found a blue rock on a hunting trip in a forbidden forest. The rock, obviously, is not a rock but a dragon egg. Before he can even enjoy his new found pet, he is thrusted into a decades-long war that only he could end.

Based on a best-selling children's novel by Christopher Paolini, the movie failed to engage the audience within its first 15 minutes. Even Wikipedia's synopsis of the book, which is three paragraphs long, was a far more engrossing read than the movie. The blame for the failure of this adaptation rests on several people but high on the list are producers John Davis and Wyck Godfrey for allowing the production to proceed without an emotionally satisfying script. Screenwriter Peter Buchman also shares the blame for not injecting enough history of Alagaësia, the world where the story takes place. Even Eragon's past is not well told.


Director Stefen Fangmeier can be blamed for not sticking to the book and for the awful performances he inspired from his actors. Unlike Tilda Swinton, whose nuanced performance as the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia gave us a frigid example of an ice queen, John Malkovich as King Galbatorix overacts on his throne, delivering his lines as if he is a contemporary power-hungry warlord. Robert Carlyle played his role as Durza just enough to stand out but not enough to inform the audience of his subservience to Galbatorix.

Just like Malkovich and Carlyle, Jeremy Irons is wasted as Brom but at least he acts and sounds like a has-been warrior. The one performance that could have saved this film through sheer brilliance of acting and charisma was Edward Speelers as Eragon. Unfortunately, he couldn't. He shouldn't be blamed for not being able to carry this film on his own as he is making his feature debut here.


Costumes by Kym Barrett for the most part work. However on several female character like Angela the fortune teller or the high ranking women of the Varden, the costumes were too beady to be practical, believable attires. The original score by Patrick Doyle also failed to connect instinctively with the film. It is merely adequate but not memorable.

On location cinematography by Hugh Johnson for the most part is excellent. Shot in Hungary and helped by visual effects enhancements, his sweeping shots paint a beautiful view of Alagaësia. The Academy Award winning Randy Thom did a great job as sound designer and supervising sound editor, enveloping the audience with immersive audio cues. Finally, congratulations on a job well done for ILM and Weta Digital, two visual effects houses that provided much of the dragon eye-candy.


It doesn't bode well for 20th Century Fox that the first installment in the Inheritance trilogy is not off to a flying start. But this is a tentpole movie for Fox. Whether they will green-light the sequel, Eldest, and the as yet-unnamed and unreleased third book, will be determined by Eragon's box office performance.