“Kicking off yet another projected cinematic trilogy laden with dungeons, dragons and digital wizardry, Eragon confirms that novelist Christopher Paolini is no J.R.R. Tolkien — but more to the point, helmer Stefen Fangmeier is no Peter Jackson,” says Variety‘s Justin Chang on the just-opened 20th Century Fox release.
“Appropriating all the external trappings of big-budget fantasy but none of the requisite soul, this leaden epic never soars like the CG-rendered fire-breather at the core of its derivative mythology.”

This obviously doomed Rings wannabe, incidentally, has a 15% Rotten Tomatoes rating — one of the all-time lowest in my memory. My favorite review thus far is by southflorida.com’s Chauncey Mabe: “For those who love the fantasy genre known as sword and sorcery — and I count myself in their number — sitting through the movie version of Eragon will suck the will to live right out of you.”