ERAGON deals with dragons, dragon riders and damsels in distress.  ERAGON begins with a lengthy voiceover explaining the situation at hand, how an evil King Galbatorix (John Malkovich) has destroyed all the dragons and came to rule Alagaesia with his evil henchman Durza (Robert Carlylye).  ERAGON is written by a 19-year old (why the ads appear proud to proclaim this fact is beyond me) and it shows.  The story never attempts to explain much, such as the reason behind’s Durza loyalty to the evil king, unless, heaven forbid, the filmmakers intend to go ahead with sequels.  The ending of ERAGON is so shamefully primed for one.

ERAGON is no LORD OF THE RINGS and no STAR WARS either.  ERAGON lies more in the mold of early dragon epics such as JACK THE GIANT KILLER.  And that is to give ERAGON more credit than it is worth.  The story is the type of fairy tale read to kids before bedtime.

Relative unknowns Edward Speleers and Sienna Guillory play the sword wielding Eragon the damsel in distress respectively.  Rachel Weisz (what is she doing here?) voices the dragon unless the script required Saphira (the dragon) to roar with a real manly sound.  The normally excellent Jeremy Irons looks lost in the kids’ world, playing Brom, Eragon’s mentor.  The audience can understand his frustration when Eragon ignores his advice ever so often.

The fight scenes, particularly the climax, are at least executed with some flair with fire breathing monsters and sword fights.  Much of the gore and violence of the film have been removed making ERAGON more a fantasy adventure for the younger crowd.