'Eragon' fails to take flight

I have not read the best-selling novel on which the film "Eragon" is based. Nor have I read its best-selling sequel, Eldest. (The final installment of the trilogy is currently being penned by the still very young author Christopher Paolini, who was a mere 17-years-old when Eragon was published in 2003). I don't subscribe to the "rule" that one must read the book to fully appreciate the movie.

But I am told by fans of the books that they are truly marvelous tales for young readers, especially grade-schoolers and tweens, and adults with an affinity for this genre. I'm all for reading books, for getting kids' heads out from in front of a gaming console and into a world where imagination is not preconceived by computer programmers. (Alas, the video game version of "Eragon" has been out for a month.)

"Eragon" is a film that could have and should have been so much more (ironically an observation that characters throughout the film make about the young hero of our story as well). While it is a visually exciting fantasy-adventure -- shot digitally to allow for maximum dragon power -- most of the effects, backdrops and battle scenes have all been seen before on much grander scales in much grander films, including the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "Star Wars." Interestingly, "Eragon" director Stefen Fangmeier "borrows" freely from all three properties.

The story is a familiar tale, set many thousands of years ago, in a mystical land far, far away, where peace and tranquility reign until a betrayer sets in motion the destruction of a race and the extinction of flying dragons. An evil king now reigns, aided by his evil sidekick sorcerer. It's a dark and dreary world until one day, a poor, young farm boy named Eragon (newcomer Ed Speleers) happens upon a mysterious egg-like blue stone while hunting in the forest. The stone will change his life forever.

Hmmm.

Hot on his heels is the aforementioned evil sorcerer (called a "Shade") named Durza (Robert Carlyle), who must use armies of thugs to retrieve the precious blue stone for wicked King Galbatorix (a sneering John Malkovich). Why a poweful sorcerer such as Durza cannot simply wave his hands and retrieve the stone is beyond me.

Back on the farm, the stone "hatches" and out pops an adorable winged dragon named Saphira (voice by Rachel Weisz). It is their destiny to become Truly One, the term used to describe the perfect match between Dragon Rider and winged beast. They communicate by reading each other's thoughts. He can see the world through her eyes, literally. She will learn to breathe fire as he becomes a mighty warrior. He will learn to do magic for the good of mankind, as all Dragon Riders eventually do.

Eragon also meets up with a mysterious (is there any other kind?) swordsman named Brom (Jeremy Irons, fresh from the wardrobe department of "Kingdom of Heaven"). It is Brom who reveals Eragon's true destiny to the handsome young lad. With his now fully grown dragon, Eragon must save the remnants of the Vardens, the peace-loving folk who, tah-DAH! were not totally exterminated by the king. Their remnant colony location was secret (again, why Durza can't magically divine this is beyond me) until Eragon unfortunately leads the armies of Durza to their stone mountain fortress.

The battle sequences that ensue are an homage to the digitally enhanced spectacles of "Lord of the Rings," but here they don't quite achieve that film's level of terrifying excitement or incomparable scale. Galbatorix's massive army is quickly defeated by a boy and his dragon and not much else.

The beautiful Sienna Guillory provides the love interest for Eragon, as the fiercely independent Arya, the sword-wielding warrior elf from Alagaesia. She and Eragon share nary a kiss, but their loving glances speak volumes. Their story ends with the perfect "sequel tease" -- Eragon may have won the battle (and the girl) but not the war.

Tales of flying dragons and sword-wielding heroes are grand indeed, especially when the child in each of us can find a world of enchantment therein. "Eragon" could have, and should have been such a tale.