On its own, how does the film measure up? Well, like I said, it’s hilarious. Well, let’s leave my personal prejudices aside, and let go of the fact that most of the film is derivative of one famous franchise after the other. I’m tired, and sick, and I hate it hate it hate it. I’m tired of young men with destinies to fulfill, of wizened old mentors who guide them, of damsels in distress, of villains who want to rule everything with tyranny, and lovable rogues who swash and buckle their way to our screen. Not content with just lifting directly from one iconic franchise, director Stefen Fangmeier goes ahead and creates a visual style lifting the Rings franchise in its entirety. Yup, it’s that simple, wink-wink, nudge-nudge, say no more - say no more. Read all that again with Dragon Rider substituted with Jedis, and you’ll get the idea. They meet with a roguish ally, and off they go on their wacky adventures. Brom (Jeremy Irons), the local old wise guy, takes Eragon under his wings, teaches him the ways, and escorts him to the Rebellion, members of a rag-tag band who want to overthrow the Empire. The little dragon thingie grows into Saphira (Rachel Weisz). When Arya (Sienna Guillory), the guardian of the last Dragon egg, is captured, she *poof * sends the egg to a forest where our boy Eragon is, and it hatches for him. Of course, Galbatorix has wrested power by betraying his fellow Dragon Riders, who were the warriors dedicated to fight evil all over the land.

So we have young Eragon (Edward Speleers), a farmer being raised by his uncle (Alun Armstrong), living under the tyrannical rule of the evil king Galbatorix (John Malkovich), enforced by his chief sorcerer, Dragon Rider Durza (Robert Carlyle). Okay, you can’t be dismissive of something you haven’t experienced, but the basic plot as outlined by the film is so very obviously a mish-mash of all popular franchises rolled into one, that you just can’t help but snigger. If you haven’t read the book by Christopher Paolini yet, this film will make you want to congratulate yourself on saving 247 rupees, really. This has led to the pain inducing deluge of fantasy film adapted from every half decent book imaginable making it onto the screen as a CGI infested dance of fire, dragons and magic. This is all our fault, anyway – the kind of success that the Lord of The Rings trilogy and the Harry Potter films enjoyed the world over meant that every studio wants a Rings/Potter franchise for their own. You try watching a Star Wars clone set in a Lord Of The Rings universe with a straight face, then. What, it isn’t meant to be funny? Oh, well, it still is.

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