Eragon and the Lost Potential

© Teoh, Michael // June 2012
*Contains Spoilers*


Eragon, in one word, is a waste. I fully understand the reasons as to why the movie received such bad reception world wide, but what I don’t see is how they never seem to mention the word ‘potential.’ I wonder this simply because that’s exactly what director Edward Speelers wasted. The book was wonderful, and with the descriptions and details Christopher Paolini has given in it, the film has come out as a large disappointment. 


As with the book Eragon is a humble farm boy who lives with his uncle Garrow and cousin Roran. When hunting in the spine - the dangerous mountains of Alagaësia he comes across what he believes to be a blue rock. Little does he know that what he holds is a dragon egg - and the last one at that. An adorable baby dragon then hatches and Eragon feels it appropriate to keep his new blue pet a secret. Once the dragon is big enough to flutter around, Eragon’s house is destroyed by the Ra’zac (species of monsters.) They also kill Eragon’s uncle - Garrow. Soon after he meets story-teller/former dragon rider Brom. Brom urges him to flee Carvahall to seek sanctuary with the Vardens - rebels of the evil king Galbatorix. Thus begins the journey. 


And the journey was too straightforward and boring. The first thing that distracts me from an immersive experience was the dragon egg. Whilst I know a dragon egg is considerably larger than one of, let’s say, a chicken, I cannot believe that the director and film staff would choose what they did to represent Saphira’s home. It quite frankly looks like an oversized jelly bean. From there, many mistakes can be seen by the director. A 2 second scene of rain sandwiched by the burning sun, people disappearing and horses appearing out of nowhere are just a few examples of this.


In all honesty, the 544 page book put better images in my head than any of the overdone and clumsy explosions and magic. It may be due to the fact I like my imagination and what it derives from different texts - but that does not overshadow the fact that Speelers got a lot wrong in his debut film. What is really a shame is that his debut film is Eragon. 


In conclusion, Eragon may not be as bad as everyone claims it to be - but that doesn’t hide the fact that the movie has not captured a single ounce of the magic that seemed to pour out the pages of Paolini’s epic.



Grade: 3/10