Fridae

You'd be forgiven for thinking you were watching a Bel Ami movie at times. The hero, Eragon (Edwards Speelers), is a blond blue-eyed twink whose stiff acting makes Keanu Reeves look like Dustin Hoffman. There's a nice homoerotic scene where he's wrestling with his brother (equally blond twink Chris Egan) and another where he jumps into a waterfall with a handsome friend (Garrett Hedlund).

But apart from these groin-stirring moments, Eragon is a depressingly conventional fantasy film that steals too many ideas from... oh, you name it, Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragons and the mother of all fantasy films, The Lord of the Rings. There's almost nothing here you haven't seen before.

Set in a pastoral land called Alagaesia (that looks just like Earth), the kiddish storyline follows the adventures of a farmboy named Eragon who finds a dragon's egg while he is hunting. When the egg hatches, Eragon takes care of the young dragon which quickly grows up to have the voice of Rachel Weisz! Eragon and his dragon now have to fight the evil King Galbatorix and his henchmen Durza (Robert Carlyle), who is bent on destroying them.

The film is the first of a trilogy, and is based on the novels by Christopher Paolini, who wrote it when he was 15. Well, his age shows since the material lacks true originality and inspiration. Unless you're a teenager or a fan of his novels, you're not likely to enjoy this glorified TV movie.