Eragon

[stephbg]

Inertia led me to watch Eragon this evening. It was probably not helped by rough cutting for commercial breaks, but it wasn't great material to start with (not that I've read the novel). Nor was it nearly as bad as I was expecting.



It probably would have helped significantly if the male lead had possessed any form of charisma. I think I was supposed to care if he lived or died (beyond the fate of his dragon). At least he wasn't too pouty, but I could have done with some phwoar.

Jeremy Irons managed to keep a straight face, but Malkovich was completed wasted.

I got nervous when they started talking about elves and dwarves, but the budget didn't seem to stretch that far so we didn't see them.

Some of the horses were very nice.

That's about it.

Comments

[purrdence.livejournal.com]

There's always the Eragon drinking game. One slip every time you see something ripped off from a previous movie or story. Guaranteed to get you smashed within the first 30 minutes.

[drhoz.livejournal.com]

hell, play the Eragon/Star Wars game - Purrdence and I were helpless with giggles during the screening of this movie, because of the blatant rip-offs from the Star Wars - A New Hope plot

[leecetheartist.livejournal.com]

Eragon was *dreadful*. And that was seeing it with a riff track.

The dragon managed to look constipated - and not much else whenever it was telepathically speaking.

It's saying all this incredible stuff, and it looks like the only thing going through its head is "hmmm...I wonder if I'm eggbound".

[talmor.livejournal.com]

The comparison with the book was really interesting - the books were written by a teenager (14? 16?), and it does show. For one, the main female character was tough, strong, confident, brilliant, and completely in control of the 'relationship' (which was that he was infatuated with her, and she gently pointed out that she was immortal and a princess, and he wasn't).

In short, in the book written by a teenage boy, the female character was exactly how teenage boys see the opposite sex - completely in control, and scary as hell.

In the movie, the corresponding character was a classic hollywood love-interest, with zero involvment other than being pretty and female and there to be rescued, then fall in love with the lead...