Wednesday, December 20, 2006
I can sum up dragon-fantasy "Eragon" in two words — "hobbit-lite." There. That's the whole sloppy mess in a nutshell.
Over and done with. Next please.
I guess I can't really get off that easy.
You see, there's this evil king. And a boy and a dragon. Isn't there always?
And some elves and dwarves. A tiny village at the edge of nowhere. Swords.
Shields. Magic. And a fairy princess that needs a daring rescue.
Isn't there always? Somebody's mentor dies. Doesn't he always?
And a climactic battle that the good guys nearly lose but wind up barely winning thanks to heroics by the youngster-turned-hero. Is Peter Jackson filing a lawsuit yet?
Once more, with some name.
Farmboy Eragon comes into possession of a dragon, named Saphira, with whom he can communicate telepathically. He and former dragonrider Brom unite to rescue elven princess Arya from the clutches of evil sorcerer Durza and join the rebel Varden in their quest to dethrone evil king Galbatorix. Big battle.
Bad guy dies. Eragon's a hero. Go team go!
"Eragon" is the sole major fantasy or sci-fi release of the winter holiday season. It was adapted from young writer Christopher Paolini's planned young adult trilogy. (I've read the books.
They make J.K. Rowling read like Shakespeare.
)
The script is ...
how to say ...
mostly awful. There's no sense of drama and the action moves mostly from one set piece to another. Battle, exposition, another battle, exposition, death, more exposition, another battle.
Yeah. Anyone can write a movie. And I swear I saw those same mountains in "Lord of the Rings.
"
For a teen sci-fi flick, the film boasts some impressive names. Jeremy Irons pops up as Eragon's mentor Brom, while John Malkovich screams a lot as King Galbatorix. Robert Carlyle dons some truly awful makeup and fake nails as Durza, while Djimon Hounsou leads the rebel Varden.
Perhaps the biggest catch was Oscar winner Rachel Weisz as the voice of the dragon Saphira. Newcomer Edward Speleers is neither great nor terrible as Eragon. I wish I had the name of his stylist though.
I love his hair.
One thing is for sure though — the only Oscars anyone will win for this film will be for effects. The CGI Saphira is convincingly real — light-years past the awful special-effects work of the creature in the Richard Gere bomb "Dragonheart.
" The scenes of Eragon and Saphira in flight are among the best in the movie — although one shot made the dragon's head look like a big blue Falkor from "The Neverending Story."
"Eragon" isn't awful. In fact, it is actually a better cinematic experience than literary one, especially if you just want to spend a fairly pleasant couple of hours munching popcorn, watching a dragon flying around, some swordplay and some magic.
Just don't go expecting a great science fiction or fantasy film in the vein of "Harry Potter" or "The Chronicles of Narnia.
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