Eragon (or, Harry Skywalker of the Narnian Rings)

Farm boy, dragon, princess, mentor, evil tyrant.

Been there, done that.

There is not new ground to cover here. In fact, at times the ground is so well worn that the sides of the furrow come up to your armpits. Eragon sitting on the hill staring at the Tatooine’s Alagaësia's setting sun; Cloaked Eragon entering Jabba’s Durza's palace; the attack of ring wraiths Ra'zacs – at times scenes seemed to be a direct and open homage to the classics of the genre.

Eragon, for all its clichés is an engaging little film. The leads are likable, the effects passable, and the narrative will easily keep the attention of kids and kids at heart. A little charmer is all it is going to be though. Like the Potter films (excepting Cuarron’s effort) and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Eragon suffers from being adapted from a best-selling book. Scenes seem to have been shot because they had to be and the end result is less cohesive for it.

It’s a few weeks before school holidays and if this is your bag then catch it before you have to share the cinema with a gaggle of screaming brats.