Eragon: It Is A Dragon, But No Bite

Eragon is all about one boy’s battle against evil. How predictable, says Cosmo Landesman.

Based on the novel by Christopher Paolini, Eragon is a fantasy action epic aimed at young teenagers. It automatically invites comparisons with Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and even Harry Potter: our 17-year-old hero, Eragon (Ed Speleers), follows closely in the footsteps of Luke Skywalker (blond, no mum, following his destiny); and, like Tolkien’s epic, this one takes place in a world of elves, magicians and scary soldiers. And, of course, it’s being released in the sword’n’sorcery slot, just in time for the holidays.

Yet the director, Stefen Fangmeier, has borrowed heavily without creating his own distinct world. The mythological backbone of the story is thin: once upon a time, everything was fine and free in the land of Alagaesia. The dragon-riders, a noble group of warriors, have a mission to “protect and serve”, just like the LAPD. But, holy Mordor! A bad rider called Galbatorix (John Malkovich) has seized power and rules as tyrannical king. We meet him brooding in his castle, peeved that someone has stolen his stone. (He spends the whole film doing this.) Thanks to the powers of a beautiful elf called Arya (Sienna Guillory), that stone — actually a dinosaur egg — comes into Eragon’s possession. Soon, a little lady dragon called Saphira pops out. The two become best friends, the dragon grows and the boy blooms into a young man and, through his mentor, Brom (Jeremy Irons), discovers that it is his fate to become a dragon-rider and lead an uprising against the wicked king.

Clearly, the subtext is a teenager’s awakening sexuality — the dragon becomes the perfect woman. (Okay, her skin is a touch scaly, and in the morning she has dragon breath, but she has nice eyes and she’s faithful.) What young man can resist an opening line (delivered telepathically) like “I’m Saphira, and you are my rider”? The sexual innuendo continues throughout — later, she tells him to mount her. “Let’s see what you got,” she smoulders. The dragon has a kind of Jurassic Park realism to its look, but for me its impact is ruined by Rachel Weisz’s voice, which needed to sound tougher and less fey.

Because there’s so much exposition to get through, the film seems to take forever to get going. And a talented cast is wasted in underwritten roles. Malkovich seems to be doing the same brooding “Get me the boy!” routine throughout. Likewise, his henchman with magical powers, Durza (Robert Carlyle), spends a lot of time telling his own incompetent henchmen to “Bring me the boy!” The trouble is that Durza’s magic tricks and spells aren’t the cool and clever kind. As for 18-year-old Speleers, he is your standard-issue teenage-idol type, with a limited dramatic range.

There’s a grandiose sweep to proceedings, but the film never seems the stuff of epics. There’s no wow moment you’d want to see time and time again, and even the final battle is small beer compared to The Lord of the Rings. more>