Ok, this is, ostensibly, a blog about books, and so, to kick things off let me begin with a nice one: "Eregon", a lovely adventure novel with heroes, princesses, dragons, evil wizards, shades, elves, battles, and everything else you could want for a smashing good time, with the possible exception of a bowl of popcorn, which is optional.
Now, here's a short one for you, as we're taking a poll, and because, what I am supposed to be doing (i.e., not this blog) is packing for a trip to the wonderful Sunshine state to bask in the warm glow of family, and the shocking contrast of Xmas trees and palm trees side by side.
So, last night, FearlessLeader, Stitchergirl, SfS, and two dear friends, ( who have alter egos to begin with, Rindeseyu and Nitjanirasu, brother and sister, and respectively an artist illustrator who after much investigation was discovered to have been the person who recieved all of the ponies Santa was ever asked for (but that's a different story), and a history studying computer genius), all went to see Eragon, the film. Having been warned ahead by FearlessLeader, I forewent the reading of the book beforehand, as did she. However, the other members of our erstwhile band had read the book, and their reaction to the film was deep abiding wrath, and horror.
Meanwhile, FearlessLeader and I were amused, enjoyed it, and decided that it was a nice pastiche to the work of Joseph Campbell, ergo, being an extremely cliched hero journey (and like a soap opera, it hit every Epic Adventure Ingredient branch on the way down). FearlessLeader being further versed in Campbell than I, illustrated all the salient points to me (tres spiffy).
Later FearlessLeader went on home and read half of the book (and I, making a sad showing of it, fell asleep and read barelyl fifty pages- oh, the shame!) and noted that while the movie begins in the same way as the book, somehow, owing to vast mechanical error (or perhaps a very drunk crew of editors), the entire middle of the book fell right off of the movie, and the movie kept moving on without it, having a sense of great rapidity in its events, so that if you blinked, you suddenly found yourself in an epic battle without much clue as to how you arrived there. This fastforward effect is one of the chief evils pointed out to me by the Eragon book readers in the post-movie trauma.
Other big misses they noted were: Eragon's amazing telepathic abilities in the movie- suddenly doing things without trying, which took weeks of study in the book -
- the sudden appearance of a totally random swamp village, which served no purpose to the plot
- the scanty appearance of urgels to fight Eragon as he journeyed to join the Vargan, giving more the appearance of a nice romp in the country rather than the book's arduous multi-week journey fraught with danger.
- the fact that the urgels jumped from their bookish identities, to insectoid biker dudes in the film
- Saphira's amazing two second evolution from baby dragon to adult
- the annoying absence of any development of Brom and Eragon's relationship so that when Brom dies, you're confused why Eragon should care
- the speedy way the end battle began in a matter of hours vs. long months in the book
- Arya's leap from being much older (like 100 plus years) woman annoyed with Eragon in the book to slinky potential love interest in the movie
- Eragon's general and annoying blondness
and other features too numerous to mention.
So, can there be a verdict on this movie? The Eragon-reading contingent so far are composing apology letters to C.Paolini for having gone to see such a maligning of his book, and the non-readers saw it as a nice fluffy holiday view, a quick cotton candy sweet, but not so filling as to trouble you much later. Any more votes for the poll? In the meantime I'm going to keep reading the book, and before that, I'm going to get packing for the Sunshine state, because it's 2:00 here and I'm looking at an empty suitcase with only vague ideas that maybe I should put some clothes in it..... hmmm.....
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4 comments:
Muah hah hah!!!!!!
I, Rindeseyu, shall post the First Comment!!!
And it is this:
If you have some terrible urge to see the movie Eragon, take a pair of earplugs and a blindfold.
The earplugs will be needed to drown out the 'music,' which consists of dramatic crescendo after dramatic crescendo, evidently in the hopes that the sheer volume will cover the total lack of melody.
The blindfold will be needed to protect your eyes from the rest of the movie. You may remove it for a short period near the beginning to enjoy the movie's one saving grace: a very, very cute baby dragon. You will know when it needs to go back on.
If you disregard this advice, madness and ruin shall consume your soul.
Gwa ha ha!!
I, Nitjanirasu, shall post the Second Comment!
In which I shall say nothing much. Yes, it is true! Actually, I wanted to add that I, too, had not read the book, and remained unimpressed by the movie. It reminded me of a Sci-Fi Channel flick, one of those made-for-tv ones.
You shall all rue this day!
correction:
-The urgals did not become insectoid biker dudes, the Ra'zac did. Though the point is still well taken... WTF!!!
Here are some more WTFs!!!
-Some very bad editing when Eragon first touches Saphira and suddenly he has a leather thong on his palm. Like within seconds.
And the scar is supposed to be a silvery blob, not a raised dragon shaped burn! And what about the significance of said mark?
-What about Angela going from a middle aged frizzy haired witch to a slutty gold and sequin wearing pop singer?
-What happened to Arya's coma?
-The city under miles of straight up mountains is amazing bright and sunny and airy
-Where's Izra Mithrim? The great star sapphire?
-Why is Nasuada not introduced by name? She is rather important in the next book....
I don't blame anyone for seeing this movie out of morbid curiosity! Hell, if a hundred people told me not to see it I would go just to spite them! But you have been warned. Perhaps seeing it knowing what an awful parody it is will help you stomach it!
Well, in the hopes of appeasing movie-goers everywhere, I would humbly like to suggest "Night at the Museum" which is lots of fun, and mangles all history equally.
The family went, and as diverse a group as we are, it was pretty much enjoyed by all. Much better than "Eragon," of which, the book is proving to be fantastic. I'm just about half way through now, having paused a bit to read "1215" the year of the Magna Carta, which totally rocks, and makes me feel quite thankful to live where I do with running water, tile floors, and Barnes and Nobles.
Anyway, heading back to vaykay in the sunshine state, so I'll check back in again for a full update later on.
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