Movie Review: Eragon
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that plenty of tweens will want to see
this big-screen adaptation of Christopher Paolini's
best-selling young adult fantasy novel. They may be
disappointed (it's not that great), but at least the movie
content is just right for the target audience. It has its scary
moments, with several scenes featuring dark woods, eerie wind,
abrupt violence, big battles and a frightening evil wizard with
red and black makeup. Swords, arrows, and spears produce some
bloody wounds and several dead bodies, and one-on-one fight
scenes include kicking, punching, swordplay, and falling.
Eragon confronts and feels guilty about a family member's death
(the corpse is visible, with a bloody face).
Families can discuss how the movie differs from the book. What worked better in the book and what in the movie? Why? Those who didn't read the story might talk about Eragon's response to being "chosen" by the dragon. Why are dragons such fascinating creatures in fiction and legends? Families can also talk about the movie's similarities to (and differences from) other fantasy and sci-fi classics, like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. What elements of Eragon's story are unique? Which ones have you seen before?
Common Sense Media Review
For a movie about flying dragons, ERAGON is disappointingly
flatfooted. With plot points borrowed from a range of other
movies -- whether great like
Star Wars
or dismal like
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker
-- it tells the tale of an ordinary-seeming boy, Eragon
(Edward Speleers), who's destined for Great Things.
Eragon's fate begins to unfold when he goes hunting in the forest, where he discovers a glowing blue stone. Little does he know that it's a dragon egg, and that the beast about to hatch has selected him (and only him) to be her rider. What's more, he'll meet a wise former rider named Brom ( Jeremy Irons) and help regain the kingdom of Alagaësia from the gnarly, paranoid, seldom-seen King Galbatorix ( John Malkovich).
It's hardly a good sign that much of this back story must be narrated (by Irons) before the movie really begins. The unnecessarily talky set up names some of the different types of creatures in Alagaësia (bad Urgels and Ra'zac, mostly good humans), then goes on to describe Eragon's reactions and feelings, even when you can see them yourself. At 17, he's not exactly a child, but he still grows up quickly under the auspices of Obi-Wan-like Brom and flying, fire-breathing, cranky dragon Saphira (voiced somewhat stiffly by Rachel Weisz). Their approaches to his education are different, but both intend to get him ready to reintroduce the grandeur of the dragon riders back into current lore.
Eragon gets other indications of his destiny from two girls, both so briefly sketched that they barely register in the film's emotional scale. His visit with a seer (played, rather awkwardly, by singer Joss Stone) encourages him to pursue his dragon-related possibilities, while he's visited in his dreams by the beautiful, gallant Princess Arya (Sienna Guillory): He might have a crush on her, but this plot development appears destined for a sequel.
