Rated PG for fantasy violence, intense battle sequences and some frightening images.
Directed by Stefen Fangmeier
Starring Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, (voice of) Rachel Weicz
A fun adventure… but don’t fool yourself, it’s no Lord of the Rings.
It’s kind of sad in a way. If any film falls in the fantasy film category now days, it automatically will be compared to Lord of the Rings. All three Lord of the Rings films almost achieved perfection by most people’s standards, with incredible performances and some of the best visual effects ever seen. So most fantasy films pale in comparison.
Too bad for the tale of Eragon. An exceptional book was turned into a mediocre film.
Don’t get me wrong… it’s still worth the rental on family night. You’ll probably all enjoy it if your expectations aren’t too high. But for those who read the book, it goes under the category of, “Not even close to as good as the novel!”
For those who don’t know the story, it’s about a young boy named Eragon who is thrust into an unexpected adventure when he finds a dragon egg in the forest. As the dragon hatches and grows, Eragon discovers that he is the last chosen dragon rider, an extinct race. He develops his gifts on his journey to find comrades for his cause, battling an evil magician who seeks to kill him and his dragon, eliminating the last of the dragon riders.
My family enjoyed the film. My son, who has read both of Paolini’s books in the series so far, gave an unenthusiastic, “It was a’ight!” He said the film omitted and changed so many elements of the book that it eventually began to bother him.
My biggest disappointment was John Malkovich’s mere two minutes of screen time. Have you seen the preview? Then you’ve pretty much seen all you’ll see of the best actor on the cast. Jeremy Irons does a good job, but I wanted more Malkovich!
On a funny side note… I couldn’t help but think of the phrase, “There’s no such thing as a new story” while watching this tale unfold. About 15 minutes into the film I was convinced that I was watching the Star Wars storyline. (Stay with me here… I’m not that far off.) (SPOILER WARNING: I might ruin a few major plot points for you here) Boy’s parents are dead so he’s raised by his uncle. He discovers a secret that would help the rebel alliance, so the evil ruler sends out a massive search for this boy. While the boy is out his uncle is killed. (I was almost looking to see if the footprints were in single file) So he decides to go with the old hermit of the village who was actually a master himself once. (Do you see where this is going?) He stops mid journey to rescue a pretty girl. Meanwhile, the evil ruler is eliminating the commanders under him who failed, replacing them with new commanders who fear the position (I know, I know… that was actually from Empire Strikes Back… but come on!) It would have been nice to see something new.
But the film still delivered some good clean entertainment. Pop your popcorn and rent this one with the kids!
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
The film is truly PG. It’s a little scary at times, but much tamer then Lord of the Rings. Probably more comparable to Chronicles of Narnia. I brought my 9-year-old with no hesitation.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
