Eragon

I went to see Eragon last night, the movie adaptation of the first part of the wildly popular Inheritance trilogy, only to be disappointed.

I knew ahead of time that the running time only reached an hour and 39 minutes, but this became a greater problem than I expected. I'm two-thirds done with the 500-page Eragon book, and it I know that it would've succeeded as a 135 minute long film. But nay! They sacrificed plot and any trace of character development for no apparent reason, unless for some stupid reason they had the goal of a runtime of less than 100 minutes, which is stupid. Even The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe ran for over two hours, and it's based on a pretty short children's novel. I also bring up Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which faced the same problem as Eragon, except even the fourth Harry Potter flick ran for about an hour longer.

A prime example: when a major character dies, it's 250 pages into the book, after we've learned a lot about and from him. In the movie, it's probably after 45 minutes, and we've hardly had the chance to get to know the poor soul.

But there are redeeming qualities. The acting, unlike what one might expect, is pretty good, even from young Ed Speleers, who takes on the title role. Some of the dialogue is cheesy, at best, but it's a heartwarming endeavor. The special effects are also suprisingly good. I bring up the animation of the dragon herself, Saphira, as many people, including myself, were afraid it would look stupid or unrealistic (especially once we heard the dragon had feathers) but do not fear! She is beatiful, and her movements are scared, even though her eyes hardly look like sapphires. The battle sequences, though sadly sparce, are also well done, and the camera chooses the best angles to view the action.

At the end of the day, Eragon is a sufficient adaptation that will likely rake in a lot of money this weekend. For nice acting and great CG work, as well as liberties taken that pull us out of the fantastic world, I give it a reluctant 2 out of 5.

Eragon is rated PG for fantasy violence, epic battle sequences, and some frightening images.

Maybe next time, sweetheart, maybe next time.