Eragon

The novel Eragon (2006) is quite an achievement for a seventeen or eighteen-year-old author—an achievement of persistence, talent, ingenuity, and even vision. But these do not add up to genius. Nor does the film based on the book succeed in any way other than one of derivativeness. For me one of the main entertainments the film offered was in being able to identify potential influences and sources. In Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy human beings are linked from birth to their daemons. When the human dies, so does the daemon. In Eragon, when the dragon rider dies, his dragon always dies with him. The
Lord of the Rings has Aragorn and Gandolf, Star Wars has Ben Kenobi, Aragon has Brom, the former dragon rider. Along with the Harry Potter novels, all these sources have young protagonists who find themselves suddenly called to serve a noble purpose, one they didn't choose for themselves. They have to face down dark villains, difficult challenges and physical obstacles, terrible monsters. There is always a young girl, somewhere. Some of the scenes in Eragon, especially several that show the hero silhouetted against a beautiful sunset sky, specifically recall scenes in the first Star Wars film. Like Luke Skywalker, Eragon is an orphan of mysterious parentage who lives with his uncle. Both Luke and Eragon long to escape their dull lives on the farm. The uncles of both heroes are slain when evil forces come looking for their nephews. All of this is to say that there is not much original about the film Eragon.

There's not much tension or uncertainty in this film either. Instead there is a kind of random arbitrariness in the various turns of plot. We move from one scene to another. Once one challenge is overcome, another, often unrelated one, presents itself. The digital effects are good if not groundbreaking. The dragon Saphira is probably the best character in the film, if only for the voice of Rachel Weisz.

The film is flat. It lacks depth. It's like an empty box enclosed in saran wrap. Ed Speleers as Eragon is winning, but he can't act, in a profound way. Jeremy Irons as Brom is mysterious and dark, but he pretty much stays that way and dies too soon. Sienna Guillory as Arya is a welcome breath of sensuality and life. John Malkovich as the evil king Galbatorix has little to work with. Most of all the film lacks the mythic resonances of The Lord of the Rings and even the Philip Pullman and Harry Potter novels. It's a flat comic book story.

The end of Eragon clearly sets us up for a sequel, but judging from reviews and ticket sales, there won't be one.