Movie: Eragon

“Darn those LOTRs!” I imagine all of fantasy directors and producers are cursing to the trilogy, because afterwards, making fantasy movie just isn’t the same anymore; too much expectations and not the mention miles and miles of thinkable comparing with those Peter Jackson’s masterpieces after watching any movie from the same genre.

That’s what happened to me at the first watch of Eragon: constant comparing to other fantasy movies and—this was probably the ultimate doom for it—the book that had inspired this movie itself: Eragon (this is the first book from Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini; the second: Eldest already available, while the third is still in writing).

Far from the delicious books, the storyline was—as already anticipated—felt overly paced. Details, both emotional and physical, that had made Paolini’s one of my favorite author were cut down, living the story dry. Saphira’s transformation from a baby dragon into a young one was an emotionless instant process, removing best bonding moments of a rider and his dragon—the blasting effects only gave little soothing.


The dragon was great, but hey, it’s a fourth time Oscar nominee Fangmeier’s after all. Loved the way the team designed the magical creature for speed—unlike Draco in Dragon Heart who was bulkier. Scenes with Saphira in them were eyes spoilers. The props were not great but not complain-able; too bad Eragon’s sword was not impressive enough though, a bit plastic lookingy. And Kym Barrett’s costumes… hmm, were a little too contemporary for me. I also missed the dwarfs who were supposed to live with the Varden.

The talents were physically well cast, “physically” being the operative word here—with the exception of John Malkovich, but that just my subjectivity talking, I never enjoy watching him on screen. While Ed Speleers fit perfectly into the image of a young dragon rider—his expression of adoration to Arya was unforgettably cute, Sienna Guillory’s Arya was a bit different from what I had imagined when reading the books.



Though her features were quite elfish, her gestures suggested attraction and even flirtation sometimes to Eragon. Whereas I always pictured Arya as a cool, distance and dark haired elf—speaking of which, I don’t remember the film mentioning her as this superior race. She was supposed to be hundreds of years old elf that looked at Eragon as a young inexperienced human boy—in the book, she even subtly expressed discomfort toward Eragon’s feeling.

Robert Carlyle as Durza the Shade was undeniably great! He really could carry the image of a powerful and evil wizard. The red hair and gray contacts helped him live up the character, though I was a bit puzzled about the sudden change of make up in the battle scenes. Not enough Murtagh, of course, but that was only because I imagined Steven Strait (Sky High, The Covenant) playing that character ;-p

Over all, it was a nice entertainment, not great, but nice enough.


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Casts: Ed Speleers, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Robert Carlyle, Djimon Hounsou, Sienna Guillory, Garrett Hedlund, Rachel Weisz (voice of Saphira) Director: Stefen Fangmeier Images: www.rottentomatoes.com