As a genre, fantasy is my favorite form of entertainment. Especially to read. So, even though I’d heard mixed things, I decided to plunge myself into the Inheritance Cycle. . . and it’s not so bad. Actually I rather enjoy it, save for the ridiculously unpronounceable languages splattered throughout. And Paolini sometimes lapses into some very archaic grammar that doesn’t flow well. But the story is interesting and the characters engaging enough. A lot of it has been done before — and arguably better — it does have a lot of depth and the fantasy elements are quite solid.
So baring that in mind, I watched Eragon the other day. I’m still not quite sure why.
It was pretty awful. I mean, I expected it to be awful, so in some ways it wasn’t as hopelessly irredeemable as every review I’ve read on the film has been. However, most of those reviews were from people who also loathed the book or hadn’t read it. So, I thought I might have a different take. And I do. Still, given the changes, the story itself isn’t particularly bad. I mean, it’s not stellar and it does suffer from a fair amount of cheese and some over the top acting. But there is a story there and while familiar, it is still mildly entertaining. Basically Star Wars meets The Lord of the Rings with dragons.
Basically, this film is about as loosely based on the book as the filmmakers could get and still use the name. Events that are central to the plot don’t happen at all or are so vastly different that were this film actually a success a sequel would be pretty damn impossible without that film diverging from the source material even farther. One big gripe I have is the same one I have with the HP films, key characters that play incredibly important parts are left out completely or utilized in such a way so as to seem insignificant.
A criticism I’ve noticed among fans of the novels is that pretty much no character looks like the description given in the book. Generally I wouldn’t care about something so trivial, but it is in fact very true. And it’s the first transition film I’ve seen that manages to make every character appear alien. I was pleased to see Brom realized as a bit younger because visually his character would seem too much like a Gandalf or Dumbledore otherwise. But there isn’t any reason they couldn’t have died Ed Speleers hair or put Murtagh’s scar in the proper spot!
The major change is Saphira and here I’ll both agree and disagree. Frankly I can’t really comment on color since I’m color blind. But were she as brilliantly blue as she’s described in the book, it would certainly make her look a bit too cartoonish. Though, I’m truly at a loss as to why she has horns and feathers! I’ve seen a lot of art regarding dragons and I’ve yet to see one, until now, with feathers! And Paolini probably describes Saphira’s appearance more than any other character in the series, so what gives with the crazy?
Perhaps strangely, my largest issue is the armor. I just can’t get over how, well, fake it looks. I get where they were going with the design with Eragon’s armor in particular — emulating dragon scales. But everyone looks like they’re running around in bits of tin foil. I’ve never seen something so horrendous. It’s pretty sad when a character running around in a leather jerkin as part of their day-to-day costume looks more realistic and probably better protected than dwarf-made armor! And coupled with the absolute deviation from how the climactic battle occurs, it was just a ridiculous scene.
So, yeah, my head kind of hurts.
