If one had never watched epic fantasies like Lord of the Rings or read really good fantasy, one might still be reasonably entertained by Eragon. It is certainly more comparable to low-brow special-effects dependent flicks that crashed like Dungeons & Dragons than anything even remotely approaching greatness. The more one thinks about it, the worse the movie becomes. It lacks the simple moral heart of Dragonheart. Its characters are sketchily-developed and possess nil credibility. Its plot is gratingly naive and self-absorbed. The more I think about what this movie (based on a novel which I believe will be as utterly crap) tries to be, the more it gets on my nerves. It is like a chao ah beng trying to acting like a classy gentleman.
Gripe 1: the title character Eragon is a pathetic egoist pretending to be conflicted by the power bestowed by his newly-discovered destiny. I simply can't stand him. And one certainly can't play soldier with your brother using sticks and suddenly become a tough and skilled warrior overnight - I know this for a fact from years of martial arts training. Utter bollocks. So obviously an immature adolescent fantasy about being the saviour of the universe and all-powerful. Oh I can't help it - I'm so strong, I'm irresistable. Urrrk! Gripe 2: it cast John Malkovich as the villainous king, and now just how many other movies have we seen that before?? I am seriously starting to lose a lot of respect for this fella. Gripe 3: this throws in all the elements that the producers thought pulled audiences to LOTR, such as having a siege, dragons and pretty elves and totally missed the point. Its presumptuous self-labelling as the next fantasy epic makes me bulimic (in other words - wanna hurl).
The only reason this horror even passed my ratings was because the special effects were decent (although perhaps this should be taken as a given in view of current technology), and Jeremy Irons was in it. He added just enough gravitas to save the movie from video hell. A pity that babes like Rachel Weisz and Sienna Guillory (who looks perfectly elvish) were totally under-utilised. Go catch this if you need a pulmonary condition.
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