‘Eragon’ lacking in teeth

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, December 14, 2006

A special-effects dragon is the undisputed star of “Eragon,” a lightweight new movie based on a big-selling young person’s book. “The Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars” are the big influences here, but it’s definitely geared for a young audience.

My 11-year-old nephew informs me that the book, by Christopher Paolini, is 500 pages, which means that plenty must have been whittled down to reach a 104-minute movie. That could account for the sketchy nature of this modest effort.

Eragon (Ed Speleers) is this movie’s “chosen one,” an apparently ordinary 17-year-old living in one of those magical periods of dragons and elves and dwarves. (Well, people talk about elves and dwarves, but I’m not sure there are any in the film.) Things are bad, because the evil lords have taken over the land.

Eragon discovers a blue egg, which gives forth a baby dragon. It quickly grows into adult form, and establishes a telepathic bond with Eragon (speaking in the voice of Rachel Weisz – not the first person you’d think of for dragon casting).

Turns out that Eragon might just be a Dragon Rider, long thought to have died out. Dragon Riders – who, naturally enough, ride dragons – are heroes who can battle the evil ones.

Nothing in this story is a problem, except that it takes a while for the plot to really kick in. There’s some tame exposition, including a section on the departure of Eragon’s older brother. This is given such importance that we wait for him to show up again … but he doesn’t. Well, maybe in part two.

Meanwhile, the best human performance is given by Jeremy Irons, as Eragon’s world-weary mentor. Even when he’s telling Eragon to protect his dragon and study the language of elves, Irons somehow makes it believable.

Robert Carlyle plays the meanest of the bad guys, a Shade, while John Malkovich serves up a nice slice of ham in a few scenes as the evil overlord. Surprisingly, there’s no real love interest for Eragon, unless you count the dragon with Rachel Weisz’s voice.

The dragon flies all over the forested countryside, which was shot in Hungary and Slovakia (and looks like the North Cascades). It’s a seamless creation, although the big eyes seem more like a concession to Disney-style animation than a genuine dragon feature. Of course, who’s to say what genuine dragon eyes look like?

The door for a sequel is left open at the end, and the book series is designed as a trilogy. So maybe we’ll find out what happened to the brother this time next year.

Ed Speleers stars in “Eragon.”