Eragon - See the Movie, Then Read the Book

With the impending release of "Eragon" in the theater, I finally pulled the novel (and its sequel, "Eldest") off my shelf to read before I saw the motion picture. I was enthralled immediately. Christopher Paolini created a world with Alagaesia as rich as any fantasy I have ever read. His characters were rich, their motivations sincere, and the world felt alive.

Then I went to see the movie. The movie itself wasn't bad. It was a fun night with my significant other. Unfortunately, the movie did precisely what I had been afraid it would do: cut out so much important information that it felt lifeless. My girlfriend made the comment as we left the theater that it was a good movie but it needed more explanation.

I couldn't say it any better. It needed more. More characters, more settings, more explanation, more history, more everything. The novel was approximately 500 pages long, and the film ran one hour and thirty-nine minutes. I would think that the movie could have been doubled in length and still left the fans of the novel wanting.

The main gripe with the movie is the amount that was abridged. Entire settings and characters (Teirm and Jeod Longshanks, for instance, as well as The Twins and Orik) are left out of the film entirely even though they provide major plot movement during both novels. Characters who were important as far as secondary characters go (Angela the herbalist and Roran, Eragon's cousin) were thrown in as an afterthought, it seems, and their actions are entirely different than that of the novel. Even Saphira, the title character's dragon, is made to be no more than a secondary character as she grows to adulthood in a twenty second flight through the clouds and lands in front of Eragon and speaks her name (instead of it being a bond between her, Eragon, and Brom the storyteller as it was in the book). These are major portions of the novel which are made to seen insignificant in the movie.

The movie wasn't all complaints, though. Far from it, indeed. The CGI was amazing. Young Saphira was adorable, and I can honestly say it made me yearn for a pet dragon. The battle scenes were magnificently done, and the action never hurt my eyes as many synthesized fantasy combat scenes do. The plot was consistent, if very off base and lacking in explanation, and people who have never read Paolini's prose can easily follow along, though they might be curious as to why and how certain things happen.

All in all, it was an enjoyable movie. I would have enjoyed it more had I seen the movie first to whet my appetite for the novel instead of the other way around. Novel adaptations are generally lackluster with only a few shining stars among them, and "Eragon" is no different. It has the visual pizazz of a fantasy epic, but it doesn't have the heart the original author instilled in it. Watch the movie, then read the book. It feels odd to give the opposite advice than I usually offer, but this time, it will increase your enjoyment of the film and the novel instead of being as disappointed by what was not there. You can't miss what you don't know is missing in the first place.