Eragon, while entertaining, simply tried to hard to be "Lord of the Rings" - and fell way short. Mostly, it lacked character development. For example, Eragon loses family member and the movie tries to make you feel like it's such a tragic event...but it really doesn't feel like it is. And I've heard that the movie doesn't stick too close to the book. There was also one flaw in there that I couldn't get past, the helmet that was shown to Eragon that was supposed to be given to Saphira is a completely different helmet than the one that she actually wore. A GLARING mistake. It was Stefen Fangmeier's directorial debut...and it had the mark of a rookie. Jeremy Irons does not disappoint though.

Years ago, in the Magical work of Alagaesia, the world was calm and at peace. With the world being watched over by Mythical dragons and their riders, the everything seemed safe and prosperous for all. That was until one day, a dragon rider named Galbatorix (John Malkovich) overthrows the Dragon Riders, and anoints himself king. From here the world is at war. With no dragon riders left, the common people of Alagesia have no one to turn to for help.

The movie version of Eragon does not do much to explain the history and background. There is a visually stunning sequence at the beginning of the film, with a voice over from Jeremy Irons, but more is needed to put the pieces together.

Making his directorial debut is Stefen Fangmeter. While his background in visual effects is present in Eregon, his lack of experience in directing stands out more. With terrible dialogue and important pieces missing from the story it is apparent throughout, that Fangmeter needed more help.

At the age of 17, our main character Eragon (Edward Speleers) comes upon what seems to be the very last Dragon Egg. After it hatches, we meet Saphira (Voiced by Rachel Weisz). The two of them are now connected, as Saphira has waited over 1000 years to find and choose her rider. The two, along with former Dragon Rider Brom (Jeremy Irons - who’s only purpose in the film it seems, would be to help guide and explain everything to the audience) Take up the quest to travel across the lands to the Varden (A group of rebels who continue to fight against the King).

As a whole the acting is uninspiring and downright dreadful at times. Jeremy Irons and Rachel Weisz are the only saving grace, but with such dialogue to work with, even they leaves more to be desired.

Being one, who has not read the book, it was very easy for me to tell that much of the story was missing. Characters that were important in the book, have little to no purpose in the film. The relationship between Eragon and his dragon, which takes years to develop in the book, takes mere minutes in the film. They go so far as to play with the notion of a love story between Eragon and Arya (Sienna Guillory – A princess who has the power of magic, and sent the egg to where Eragon would find it) but unfortunately do nothing to develop this. It will be interesting to see where this may lead in the next film.

My guess is that young children will find this a very exciting and entertaining movie, yet adults will be disappointed. The cheesy lines of dialogue, followed by amazingly beautiful CGI, will leave you wondering what it was that the filmmakers were thinking. They seem to have had no idea which audience they were trying to attract.