Eragon: The Movie
Movie adaptations of books can be very enjoyable, both for fans of the books and for newcomers to the stories. They can introduce neophytes to the tales as well as let old hands watch the books come alive on a screen. When they are botched, however, they can be disastrous. If movie adaptations lose the support of fans, they will bomb. Eragon succeeds in doing just that.
Although some things from the book needed to be cut out for a screen adaptation, the makers of Eragon engaged in wanton chopping rather than careful cutting. They seem to have wished to make the movie appeal more to viewers who had not read the book by turning it into a typical fantasy-adventure film, rather than trying to appeal to fans by staying as close to the book as possible. They apparently thought that if they did not severely trim the book, non-readers would be baffled and alienated. Non-reader viewers, however, could have easily figured out the plot and setting of Eragon by watching the prologue which is provided at the beginning of the film. Rather than simply increasing the size of their audience, therefore, the makers have only succeeded in shrinking it by alienating fans of the book.
One result of all this needless slicing is a lack of plot development. Without all the scenes that have been cut out, much of the second book, Eldest, is lost. So, in effect, the makers have thrown away any chance they might have had of making a sequel which would draw in readers of the book. And, were there to be a sequel, many fewer fans would see it because of their disappointment with the original. The movie ends in a way that suggests the possibility of a sequel, but, considering the amount of plot which was cut out, a sequel cannot be very close to the book. The end of this movie also seems to be taking the plot in a totally different direction than that taken in the book.
Along with the loss of plot development comes the loss of character development. This loss has the same implications as the first one. Character development is as essential to Eldest as plot development. Almost all of the characters except Eragon are one-dimensional. Most, if not all, of the scenes from the book in which they were developed have been cut. Also, as with plot development, fans who miss character development in this film will not come to see a sequel.
Despite the fact that fans of the book may detest the movie Eragon, people who see it without having read the book may enjoy it. As they haven’t read the book, they will not be disappointed that material has been cut out. If they simply want to see a good fantasy-action film, they will like Eragon. Fans of the book should stay away from this movie, however.
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