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Watched Eragon on Wednesday. It was a sneak preview before it opened worldwide on 15 December 2006. We caught the midnight (11.45pm) show at Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) in Mid Valley. A last minute impromptu decision on my part.

The Movie
Eragon is a fantasy adventure movie based on the phenomenally successful novel by Christopher Paolini of the same title. The book is the first in the Inheritance Trilogy (Eragon, Eldest, and Empire). The first two books have already been published while the third is on the workbench. Similarly, a sequel to Eragon the movie, while unconfirmed, is highly likely once you’ve seen the conclusion to this one.

Anyway, the movie opens with a short introduction about dragon riders, their rise to glory, their fall from grace, and their eventual destruction by the hands of one of their own. A young dragon rider by the name of Galbatorix (John Malkovich) betrays his own ranks and usurps their power. So ends the age of the dragon riders and begins the dark tyranical reign of King Galbatorix over the lands of Alagaesia.

The story continues several years later and tells the tale of a young farm boy, Eragon (Ed Speleers), who by a twist of fate becomes a dragon rider. While hunting in the forest, he discovers a dragon egg (looks like a spherical shaped rock and sounds like a hollow metal tube). The egg was sent to the location by Arya (Sienna Guillory) out of desperation as she was chased down and cornered by the King Galbatorix’s aide, Durza (Robert Carlyle), a dark shade (practitioner of dark arts and possessed of evil spirits, or at least that’s the description given).

The egg eventually hatches. Over the span of a couple days, the dragon, Saphira (voiced by Rachel Weisz), grows from a young hatchling into a magnificent beast. Our young hero is joined by Brom (Jeremy Irons), an aging dragon rider whose dragon had been slain. Together, they head towards the secret base of the Varn, rebels who are against the tyranic rule of the king. Eventually, they are joined by Murtagh (Garrett Hedlund), whose father had killed Brom’s dragon and had been slain by Brom in return (a rather complicated past). From that point on, we’re brought along for a ride through Eragon’s coming of age and journey of discovery.

The story climaxes in a battle between the king’s army and the rebels during which Eragon defeats Durza in a dazzling aerial battle.

My Say
While the supporting characters are played by well known stars, the main protagonists are portrayed by a cast of relatively new actors. Some of the dialogue was so cliched that it grated my nerves. the acting/voice acting seemed forced and unnatural, as though the actors were trying too hard.

I haven’t yet read the novels, so I don’t know if the movie remained true to the book. According to a comment on IMDB, the movie had strayed too far from the original. IMHO, the storyline was rather predictable. There was little twists in the plot to throw you off guard.

On the plus side, the folks at Industrial Lights & Magic (ILM) have done a great job in bringing the dragon to life. I especially love Saphira as a young lightning blue hatchling with a tuft of hair on her head. So damn cute that I wanted one for myself.

To me, the movie was okay. Not great, not fantastic, but passable. It had its entertaining moments and some wow factor in terms of CGI but is lacking in other departments. WL says she enjoyed the movie. There is a relative drought of movie at the moment. There aren’t many good shows being released. For want of a better choice, go and see the movie. Or at least that’s how I ended up watching it.

If you’ve seen the movie, let us know what you think. Better still if you’ve read the book. Was it good, bad, ugly, should be burned, or whatever?

Some Trivia
It is interesting to note the author, Christopher Paolini, began penning Eragon after he graduated from high school at the age of 15! He’s now 19 years of age. While most teenagers were enthralled by the works of J. K. Rowling, this teen began a franchise of his own. Just inspires you to go start your own book project, doesn’t it?