Eragon

I won't waste a whole lot of time on this, basically because it so bad. Having read both of Christopher Paolini's books in the Inheritance series, Eragon and Eldest, I had high hopes for this film because the novels are so well-crafted. Yes, it does borrow many traditional elements from the fantasy genre, and many probably pass these books off as LotR ripoffs, but if you can get beyond that they are great stories...

The film, however, is a stinking pile of shit. It was obviously thrown together, and so many details from the books are glossed over or completely omitted. Yes, condensing a complex story full of characters is par for the course, but Peter Jackson proved that you can make good movies faithful to the books that satisfy even the most hard-core fans. Eragon the movie is not even 1hr 45 minutes, and all the corners cut really make the film disjointed. Even the decent special effects can't save it, and the dragon with Rachel Weisz's voice is plain irritating.

Remember when special effects absolutely blew us away and could compensate for a weak plot? I'll never forget how awe-inspired I was by the liquid morphing in Terminator 2 or the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park...
Now, we as a viewing audience want it all...effects must be accompanied by a decent story, otherwise you'll just have a corny, computerized movie, a modern-day version of the sci-fi B movie of the 70s. I blame it on the Star Wars prequels (I caught a few minutes of the Phantom Menace on HBO the other day and was painfully reminded of this reality).

So, read the Eragon books, and if you must see the movie, wait until they show it on the Sci-Fi channel or something...shouldn't be long before it gets there...

1.5 out of 5 Stars