Many years ago, Alagaesia was a land that prospered. It was a peaceful time, and the land was guarded by beautiful and fierce dragons and their magical riders. But one rider sought power for himself, and managed to turn dragon rider against dragon rider. A terrible war ensued and all dragons and their riders were killed, save the one usurper, Galbatorix (Malkovich). Under his rule the land and people of Alagaesia have suffered terribly.
So begins the story of “Eragon” (in a nutshell anyway). It is based on the book by Christopher Paolini, who penned the novel when he was just 16 years old. Die hard fantasy fans (think “Trekkies” of the fantasy book world) pretty much hate the novel, feeling that the story is blatantly plagiarized from such canonized authors as J.R.R. Tolkein and even George Lucas (who penned Star Wars). I won’t get into the debate here, but I found the novel very enjoyable. It is derivative, but there is very little fantasy these days that’s not.
Digressing, Eragon (Speelers) is a farm boy. While he’s out hunting one morning, a mysterious flash of light appears before him and deposits what he thinks is a blue stone. He attempts to trade it for meat, but the butcher, upon learning how he found it, refuses and tells him it’s property of the king (Galbatorix). So, Eragon hides the stone in the barn.
The stone, however is not a stone at all, but an egg that soon hatches a small winged creature. Eragon doesn’t know what it is, but realizes quickly that she’s an excellent hunter (taking care of the mice problem in the barn). But, when he reaches to touch her, he’s knocked back by a magical force that momentarily stuns him. When he awakens, there is a strange mark on his palm.
When Eragon next goes into the village, he gets the chance to overhear storyteller Brom (Irons) telling the other villagers about these legendary dragons and their riders. Brom is silenced by Galbatorix’s men, who are in the village presumably to recruit those of age to join the army. But Eragon senses he’s telling the truth.
Without giving too much away, Eragon helps his dragon to fly, and while she flies she magically grows into adulthood (this is explained in the book that dragons mature with experience not time, but not told in the movie) and introduces herself to Eragon as Saphira, and tells him that she has waited a 1000 years for him. Saphira is magnificent (though I pictured her bluer) and voiced well by Rachel Weisz. The facial expressions are incredible and the movie has terrific special effects in the flying scenes.
Now that Saphira has bonded with Eragon, the two are in immediate danger. Galbatorix senses magically that the bonding has happened and sends a dark magician, Durza, to hunt him down and kill him. Much of the movie is spent avoiding Durza and his assassins as Eragon, Saphira and Brom (who sees Eragon’s mark and recognizes him for what he is) race to reach the Varden, a huge band of rebels hiding out and waiting for the prophesied dragon rider to return and help them defeat Galbatorix.
My husband and I had very different reactions to this movie. I took it for what it was, a good adventure with good (if not somewhat underdeveloped) characters that was geared toward the younger teen and kid (I’d say ages 9 and up). He felt that the movie left out the best part of the book– the struggle that Eragon faces as he works to accept his destiny. I felt that some key elements were left out, especially regarding Saphira’s name. In the novel, Eragon names her (she doesn’t introduce herself) and it is later learned that Eragon was the name of the first dragon rider, and his dragon was Saphira. I think the screenwriter should have included these and other elements that really illustrate the bond between Eragon and Saphira and how this became his destiny.
However, it’s nothing that kids won’t miss, and I think that was the target audience they were shooting for (as much of the violence is hinted at but not seen…in fact there is very little blood shown at all). It could have easily been a bit longer, so as to include some important missing elements, or more violent (there were some depictions of violence in the book that had me cringing), but this is scaled back to be sure that they got the PG rating that would make it a family movie. I did enjoy it, but more so because I had read the book and knew more about the characters than was shown. I looked at it as more an extension of the book, rather than something that could stand alone. This isn’t to say that “Eragon” is incomplete as far as story goes, but it is lacking in some heart. Younger kids, however, won’t miss the short comings in character development and will enjoy the action and adventure “Eragon” offers. Just don’t be surprised if they ask for a dragon for Christmas.
Rated: PG for fantasy
Cautions: violence, intense battle sequences and some frightening images
Starring: Edward Speelers, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlyle