It's interesting to see most critics disliked 'Eragon', yet the film was a box office success, proving the general public enjoyed it.
Ed Speleers stars as the film's titular character, Eragon, whom I thought did a good job as the protagonist. He had a likability that made me root for him. Eragon's life is thrown into turmoil when he finds a mysterious rock in the woods, which turns out to be a dragon egg. The set-up of the dragon and Eragon being able to communicate via mind reading was a bit much to swallow, but I suppose it was required for the movie to work the way they wanted it to. This aspect will appeal more to a young audience who watches cartoons, while a mature audience might find this amusing, to say the least, and raise an eyebrow or two.
I enjoyed Jeremy Irons as Brom, who's character has an interesting reveal later. John Malkovich was born to portray villains. Unfortunately, here, he isn't given much to do with a seriously underdeveloped character, Galbatorix. This character has so much potential, yet all he did in the few moments he was on screen, was give orders. He was a passive character who might as well not have been there.
The real antagonist is Shade. Shade is more of an entity or spirit than an actual character, but it was creepy at times. The film features beautiful cinematography and great visuals, with a very realistically designed dragon. With sorcerers, ogres, dragons, dragons riders, what's not to enjoy here - if you're into fantasy, off course. This is an enjoyable fantasy adventure, with a stunning final battle scene. It was also nice to only have a subtle hint at romance, instead of a love interest intervening in the action, as is the case with most (Hollywood) films of this genre.
