Eragon Movie Review

Eragon
Money Gone.

I wanted to limit my review to the above simple poem but now another thought has occurred:

Edward meet Hayden. Hayden this is Edward.
These two guys might be the founding members of the Bad Actors in Fantasy Movies Hall of Shame.

As I was driving home, the thought occurred to me: Peter Jackson and his LOTR movies are now the standard by which fantasy movies are to be judged--subject closed, end of story, no debate.

And Eragon (the movie) is simply a mess. You can't translate a 500 page piece of fantasy work (even if it's targeted toward teens), condense it into a less-than-two-hour major motion picture, and have its narrative make sense. This movie proves it can't be done. Because I read the book, I was expecting scenes and images that never materialized on screen.

I think this movie was 20th Century Fox's response to New Line Cinema's leap of faith in Peter Jackson and the eventual success of Lord of the Rings. The problem here is the screen writers, producers, and director did not get it right. They owe Christopher Paolini an apology.

Even more the big difference between Tolkien and Paolini's writings is Tolkien wrote LOTR with many life experiences and memories. Paolini was a pup (and still is a young pup) when he wrote Eragon. I wonder if Paolini had waited twenty years and had a more seasoned life, would his story of Eragon show more of a gained wisdom? And would his movie goers or readers be able to bond with this wisdom? We will never know: Paolini has already put pen to paper and has produced the story.

Still, I'm straying from the point: Eragon, the young adult novel, is a good read which produces vivid imagery and gives us likable (if not original) characters.

The movie is one of the worst ever made. Shame on you 20th Century Fox. Go back to something more simple and believable. Perhaps a third trilogy of Star Wars is in the offing?