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Ever since the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series debuted in 2001, the November/December period has become the time to release fantasy epics. Eragon keeps up the tradition this year, again based on a popular book (although it has nowhere near the built-in fanbase that the aforementioned films had). Eragon, however, as has been mentioned elsewhere, bears more in common with Star Wars. The plot is exactly the same, just with the setting changed - the film could be called Dragon Wars. Without exaggeration, every plot point from Star Wars is precisely replicated. Every character in the film has an equivalent in Star Wars, and the fate of each of those characters is also exactly the same. The extent to which the plot plagiarises is really quite unbelievable (it has to be said, though, that Star Wars doesn't have the most original narrative itself). The cast of Eragon is divided between young unknown faces and older stalwarts, including Jeremy Irons and John Malkovich. The inexperience of the lead actors really shows, unfortunately, with some pretty wooden acting performances. Irons and Robert Carlyle are really the only ones who manage to squeeze some life out of their characters (Malkovich is pretty terrible). Unsurprisingly, the script doesn't give them much to work with. Despite these problems, to my amazement I actually found myself enjoying it. The film starts off with a clunky voiceover but the visuals are excellent, a theme which continues all the way through. Most of the CGI is pretty good, especially that of the baby dragon, although that is to be expected considering the first-time director has a history in effects. The film is refreshingly short, too; it doesn't go along with the present theory that every fantasy film has to be at least two and a half hours long. In fact, at about 100 minutes, I'd say it is too short, as it hurtles through the set-pieces relentlessly with no time to flesh out characters or build tension. I didn't like the fact that the dragon could talk, albeit telepathically (there was also nothing she said that couldn't have been said by another character). There were some touches that I did really like though, such as the bad guys with maggots crawling all over their faces. But what is an Avril Lavigne ballad doing in the end credits?!
The summary
Eragon is no LOTR, of course, but I did prefer it to last December's Narnia film. It's hugely flawed but rather entertaining nonetheless. [Note: I have a strong feeling I might be in the minority here.]
