Eragon (2006)

by Rizzy

Let me start out by saying that I really love fantasy films and I really love movies about dragoons, I've been hooked on dragons since I read my first fantasy novel in middle school. It had to have been the cheesiest book ever, but I didn't care it had this new idea to me of dragons that I found amazing.  I mean I knew of dragons before then, but that book solidified them to me as this amazing and majestic beast. I was destined to be a nerd.  So no matter how cheesy dragon movies can be, I always get really excited whenever I get to see one. I don't care how cheesy they are (and with a PG rating, you know this movie is going to be cheesy), I still love them. I'm just glad I haven't read the books so I don't know how much I'm missing out on.  Yes, I just said that, I'm happy to be blissfully ignorant.

I'm going to start out by saying there is nothing REALLY special about the plot to this movie. We have a king who's gotten there by destroying everyone who stood up to him, a back stabber, if you will. And you have an overly oppressive government and the legend of a dragon rider to come that will retake the land for a better tomorrow. Come on?  I mean, I love fantasy and find this idea amazing, but it's all so been done over and over again.  So don't watch this movie for the new and intriguing plot, but watch it cause it's a damn good plot that you want to see over and over again. Cause who doesn't want to watch the little farm boy save the day on his dragon mount? I know I want to!

Let's take a minute to talk about the dragon, because let's face it, when watching a dragon film, you want to know how the dragon is going to look. And let me tell you, the dragon looks very pretty, I love the shots of it flying especially, they did a really good job making it's flight look believable and noble, which is very important for me. I'm not a big fan of blue dragons, so that disappointed me a little, and the look of the scaly skin is passable but nothing really shockingly good.

In the end I'm glad they didn't blow more of the budget perfecting the look of the dragon, because they seemed to have flushed out the film and spent money on more than just the special effects, which is always good in my opinion. In the end though, and this is the case with CG films for the most part, the dragon lacks a feeling of substance and presence on the film that comes with something actually being there.  Don't get me wrong, it's pretty to look at and really an amazing sight, but it's easy to spot as CG.

So, what did they spend there money on to round out that budget? Actors, real actors. And decent ones, too. So often these fantasy films get watered down with crappy acting and cheesy dialogue (ok, this movie does suffer from that, but I'll get to that in a moment), but this film does have some decent acting in it. Jeremy Irons does a fantastic job as Brom, the young dragon rider's mentor. He keeps a level of mystery while immediately making you like/trust him. John Malkovich plays the corrupt king (who we don't see much). He seemed to have fun with his small roll. But the real treat for evil in this film was Robert Carlyle as Durza, the shade. Carlyle played the roll very dark for such a PG film and it was fun to see such seasoned actors taking up a fantasy film. Thank you, Peter Jackson for showing the world that there is a large audience for fantasy films, I hope this pattern continues on.

Speaking of actors, I need to compliment Edward Speleers on his first role as Eragon. This boy starts out as a little weak and cocky farm boy, which is easy enough to play, but by the end of the film he turns into a hero.  I got to admit that I had my doubts about him at the start of the film, but by the end I really was surprised at how much of a presence he could carry on screen. I really felt as though I had watched a boy age and grow into a man and a great man at that. Which is amazing, because he had some of the cheesiest lines ever to deliver.  I kid you not they had him saying things like "And are we together? As one?!" "Into the sky, to win or die!" "Let's finish this!" and I think you get the idea.  A lot of these lines sound like they are coming straight out of a video game, you know those lines they deliver in video games right before going into battle, yeah, Eragon has to deliver those all the time.  And he cheeses them up, yes, but I think that's kind of the idea of them, but when he's given real dialogue he could hold his own, sometimes he overplayed things a bit, but that was early on and I felt in the nature of his character. I'd like to Speleers in more roles though, he's got a strong voice and a lot of potential, it'll be fun to watch him grow as an actor.

The action scenes in this film were also phenomenal. There was only one real big battle, but they really made it worthwhile.  It was no Lord of the Rings, but it definitely felt like it was the size of battle that this movie was leading to. You had a lot of great background shots like this to back up some really fun fighting especially by Sienna Guillory who played the warrior princess Arya.  She had some real kick ass fighting scenes.  The fighting in the air was top notch to, something you could really get into. They also left the ending open to a sequel, which I would love to see, especially if they could get the same actors back for it, I think that would be a lot of fun.

In the end, if you are a fantasy buff at all, I'd check out Eragon, it was definitely a fun film for those of us who have a love for the fantasy genre.  It was a real treat to see fantasy done with great actors and some amazing special effects. I hope that this film inspires more films of a similar nature to start coming out, because despite the PG nature of the film, I still really enjoyed it. This film had enough to offer that it was entertaining for all ages and it's not very often that you can say that about a film.  Though I think you really do have to at the very least appreciate fantasy in order to enjoy this film.