The only way you could respond 'no' to the above is if you've never seen Star Wars. "Eragon", based upon the Christopher Paolini novel, begs the question of who greenlit this irrevocable dross. The story of a young dragonrider who has greatness thrust upon him in times of war hovers around iconic fantasy staples such as doomed mentors, fairy-tale princesses, the-uncle-who-is-soon-to-be-dead, rebel alliances and set-ups wholly 'borrowed' from the classics and when you semi-plagiarize Star Wars, you are truly scraping the barrel.
Director Stefen Fangmeier is a CGI-guru of sorts, but his special effects skills never translate onto this product, possibly because there is always too much of it occupying one frame, and naturally only the most eye-catching, flagrant dross is visible, and a potent example of CGI-gone-wrong is Saphira the dragon. There are numerous sweeping, epic, aerial shots of dramatic fantasy landscape, but most of it is far too artificial after it has been filtered through this CGI process and as a result the whole spectacle is noticeably less captivating. The rare, fleeting moments of suspense and poignancy that sweep you up in the film are found in the dragon flying sequences but even they are nothing to write home about.
Not to generalize, but even as a fan of the genre I can say that fantasy rarely allows for subtlety. In "Eragon" this is unmistakably true. Expect no moral grey zones: here is altogether polarized black-and-white camps with golden-haired heroes and gruesome dark orc-like creatures in dungeons who randomly raid travelers. The one remotely layered character in the story is Jeremy Irons' doomed mentor role, but his fate is just as predictable as the others'. There is your usual stares-in-disbelief protagonist (Edward Speleers), the empowered-butt-kicking-yet-impossibly-womanly-and-fragile rebel warrior-princess, a well-oiled up specimen who finds herself in distress and lastly there are the unnecessarily sinister villain arcs.
One of the best parts in the film that kept me going was the rotating scale of shitty acting. When Rachel Weisz first appeared I was convinced her annoyingly in-your-face cutesy attitude was the singular worst thing about the film, but just as I established this my outlook was floored by Sienna Guillory (who I know is at the mercy of an underwritten character, but still), who seemingly reached new levels of unique ham. Then, curiously enough, appeared Djmoun Hounsou who yet again upped the suck-o-meter in acting. This may be a positive feedback loop, for as "Eragon" progressed, new, more terrible performances surfaced. In this way, I could not stop watching. I was mesmerized.
The PG-rating of the film should be a natural deterrent. It does not suggest that this movie is for kids as much as it suggests that it is not for adults. As such, it traffics in sentimental taglines such as "without fear there cannot be courage" and self-referential, recurring dialogue of wisdom. Stefen Fangmeier practices a kind of lead-footed direction here which stumbles along the silly storyline of learning from reluctant-yet-loving mentor, saving the damsel in distress and killing the bad guys, ultimately having fledged itself into the kind of incoherent fantasy outlet a teenager would resort to, sans delicate or layered elements. All good vs. evil.
Finally, I will concede that "Eragon" does not fully violate code 01 of film-making: it is never boring. On the other hand, it is not exactly gloriously entertaining either (it never reaches the kind of so-bad-it's-good podium its bastard-cousin "Dungeons and Dragons" brushed upon) but the sheer scale of the fantasy medium and the brisk pace with which the story moves rarely allows watch-glances or anything of the sort. I can safely tell you that I would not sit through this experience again, however.
4 out of 10
Director Stefen Fangmeier is a CGI-guru of sorts, but his special effects skills never translate onto this product, possibly because there is always too much of it occupying one frame, and naturally only the most eye-catching, flagrant dross is visible, and a potent example of CGI-gone-wrong is Saphira the dragon. There are numerous sweeping, epic, aerial shots of dramatic fantasy landscape, but most of it is far too artificial after it has been filtered through this CGI process and as a result the whole spectacle is noticeably less captivating. The rare, fleeting moments of suspense and poignancy that sweep you up in the film are found in the dragon flying sequences but even they are nothing to write home about.
Not to generalize, but even as a fan of the genre I can say that fantasy rarely allows for subtlety. In "Eragon" this is unmistakably true. Expect no moral grey zones: here is altogether polarized black-and-white camps with golden-haired heroes and gruesome dark orc-like creatures in dungeons who randomly raid travelers. The one remotely layered character in the story is Jeremy Irons' doomed mentor role, but his fate is just as predictable as the others'. There is your usual stares-in-disbelief protagonist (Edward Speleers), the empowered-butt-kicking-yet-impossibly-womanly-and-fragile rebel warrior-princess, a well-oiled up specimen who finds herself in distress and lastly there are the unnecessarily sinister villain arcs.
One of the best parts in the film that kept me going was the rotating scale of shitty acting. When Rachel Weisz first appeared I was convinced her annoyingly in-your-face cutesy attitude was the singular worst thing about the film, but just as I established this my outlook was floored by Sienna Guillory (who I know is at the mercy of an underwritten character, but still), who seemingly reached new levels of unique ham. Then, curiously enough, appeared Djmoun Hounsou who yet again upped the suck-o-meter in acting. This may be a positive feedback loop, for as "Eragon" progressed, new, more terrible performances surfaced. In this way, I could not stop watching. I was mesmerized.
The PG-rating of the film should be a natural deterrent. It does not suggest that this movie is for kids as much as it suggests that it is not for adults. As such, it traffics in sentimental taglines such as "without fear there cannot be courage" and self-referential, recurring dialogue of wisdom. Stefen Fangmeier practices a kind of lead-footed direction here which stumbles along the silly storyline of learning from reluctant-yet-loving mentor, saving the damsel in distress and killing the bad guys, ultimately having fledged itself into the kind of incoherent fantasy outlet a teenager would resort to, sans delicate or layered elements. All good vs. evil.
Finally, I will concede that "Eragon" does not fully violate code 01 of film-making: it is never boring. On the other hand, it is not exactly gloriously entertaining either (it never reaches the kind of so-bad-it's-good podium its bastard-cousin "Dungeons and Dragons" brushed upon) but the sheer scale of the fantasy medium and the brisk pace with which the story moves rarely allows watch-glances or anything of the sort. I can safely tell you that I would not sit through this experience again, however.
4 out of 10