Probably the most impressive thing about the book Eragon is that it was written by some kid who was like 15 at the time. And boy, does it read like it. The book is nonsense – fantasy claptrap scavenged from a dozen different places and tied together with overcooked prose. Unsurprisingly it became a huge bestseller.
Now there’s a movie coming, and Fox has shared some behind the scenes footage with an Eragon fansite. After watching the footage I have to ask, “This isn’t going to be on the SciFi Channel why?”
You can go here to check out what’s been shown so far. To be fair, none of the big stuff has been filled in yet; there are no effects and all we see is people wandering around the countryside and the usual medieval muddy village. Maybe things will be less painfully generic when the film is done, although judging by the pages I read at Borders, I doubt it. At least Malkovich looks to be in fine, Rounders-type hammy form here. And Jeremy Irons – have you learned nothing from Dungeons and Dragons?