Eragon - The Movie

Eragon – The tale of Dragon Riders. Sounds fun, isn’t it?

I have read both the books of the Inheritance trilogy released so far, and am quite impressed with Paolini’s work….It is quite obvious that he is inspired by JRR Tolkein, and The Inheritence Trilogy is a proper tribute to Tolkein’s style.

And so I went with great expectations to see the first movie of the series, Eragon. And came out disappointed.

It takes quite some talent to mess up a brilliant novel plot and turn it into something so deteriorating. The movie is campy at best, very poorly paced, in fact poorly done altogether. For those who haven't read the book, it has been a lucky break as they have been spared the torture of trying to decipher what on earth made the makers alter the plot so heavily? Someone has aptly written about this movie,
“If - you - have - read - the - book - you'll - see - this - as - the - biggest - book - to - movie - bastardization - in - the - history - of - book - to - movie - interpretations.”

How do they expect to put things in place in 1 hr 40 minutes? Everything happens so fast…in a blink the egg comes to Eragon, in a blink dragon hatches, then Garrow dies, the Razzak and Urgals come, then Brom dies, then Arya and Shade come,then Murtagh, then Nasuada and Ajihad, then the battle at Farthen Dûr and the END.

The casting is so out of sync with the characters…just try to think of LOTR without Gandalf, Harry Potter series without Dumbledore, or Pirates of the Caribbean without Captain Jack Sparrow……And when I look back at Eragon, there is not a single compelling actor without whom the movie seems impossible. Ironically, the closest to this comes Saphira herself, the creation of Special Effects with the voice of Rachel Weisz.

Stefen Fangmeier’s first-time directorial has gone haywire…He should stick to his original job which he is so good at. He has previously worked as a visual effects director on movies like Lemony Snicket's and Master and Commander.

Ed Speleers’ growth from a farmboy to a Dragon rider isn’t convincing. Jeremy Irons plays Brom as one would expect, nothing refreshing. Robert Carlyle looks evil as Durza, but should have been given better dialogues and screen presence. Garret Hedlund as Murtagh is decent enough, but again his character looks scratchy, which isn’t good considering his role becomes much important in next book. And Galbatorix looks like SHIT. Period. I mean, this role is played by John Malcovich, how can it get screwed up so much? And Sienna Guillory….she looks good, but acts bad, and her chemistry with Speelers just isn’t there.

Now Now, there is a silver lining here, and it’s a pretty bright one too.
The Special Effects are brilliantly done.
Of course, their dazzle on the screen could have been much more profound had the direction been up to decent standards as well. The hatching of Dragon egg is so cute (reminded me of Hatching of Norbert in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone), and then Eragon’s flight scenes …. Wow, they make you feel you are on an actual roller coster ride. The magic resembles the curses flowing from the wizard’s wands in Harry Potter, but is good. And the final fight scene between Eragon and Durza is simply spectacular. Kudos to Weta Digital and Industrial Light & Magic. They did their job well.

This movie’s Budget was $100 million with the distribution budget of $30 million, grossed approximately $75 million in the US and $172.9 million elsewhere, totalling $247.9 million worldwide.

I think that Eragon the movie can be summed up like this – confusing for those who have’nt read the book and Disappointing for those who have.