Eragon, or as I like to call it– "Lord of the Rings Episode IV: A New Hope," is a new fantasy film based on a novel written by a seventeen year old by the name of Christopher Paolini. While watching the movie, I could tell that this young fellow is very much in love with Lord of the Rings (watch for creatures that look like orcs) and Star Wars (mysterious powers, a farm boy leaving home to fight the forces of evil, the old mentor who speaks words of wisdom, etc.), and in his defense, many of us are. It doesn't feel entirely fair to say this guy blatantly ripped off those movies because many stories borrow from other stories and in fact, even Star Wars was heavily influenced by Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress. Even though it was hard to shake the familiar, chances are I may have forgiven all the borrowing had not Eragon been so disappointingly small in scope.

As Eragon opens, we're introduced to the title character (Edward Speleers), a young farm boy who has yet to venture outside the confines of his tiny village. After his brother flees (to avoid being drafted by hostile forces), Eragon finds himself alone until he becomes the unsuspecting recipient of a mystical, virtually extinct creature called a dragon. Before long, Eragon discovers, through the aid of a mysterious old timer (veteran Jeremy Irons), that he and the dragon are eternally linked, and that they might be the key to stopping the forces of evil from ruling the planet.

As is the case in the Tolkien and Lucas universes, this tale is chalk full of strange creatures, ruthless villains (here, the leader of the baddies is an underused John Malkovich), magical powers, and an age old "good vs. evil" theme.

Newcomer Edward Speleers never appears entirely comfortable in the lead, but I suppose it's safe to say Mark Hamil wasn't exactly a master thespian either. Thankfully, Speleers has a strong supporting cast to take away a little bit of pressure. Jeremy Irons is forced to recite some truly cringe-inducing dialogue, but he's such a pro, that the words are a fairly easy to digest. As previously stated, John Malkovich doesn't do much here. He's stands around barking orders, but it's safe to say that he'll have a more prominent role in the sequels (Eragon is the first of a proposed–you guessed it–trilogy) should this film make enough money to warrant one. Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty) has the most fun as an evil sorcerer type with awesome powers. He winces and makes terrifying faces the entire time he's on screen, but what really confused the hell out of me is, if he's so damn powerful, then why didn't he just kill Malkovich and take over the planet? Again, maybe this is something that will be addressed in the sequel. Or, maybe I should just run out and buy the book.

The special effects are decent enough. The dragon is a lovely CGI creation, although I don't know that I was as impressed by this one as I was by the one in the disappointing Dragonheart (another flick Eragon greatly resembles). How did I feel about the fact that the dragon in this picture is voiced by the stunning Rachel Weisz? Well, it sort of takes the menacing quality out of the character. Seriously! I was more interested in making red, hot love to the dragon than fearing it.

Eragon's biggest downfall is in the direction. Much of the film is clumsy in terms of overall execution (the first scene in which Eragon takes flight, is incredibly sloppy) but worst of all, director Stefen Fangmeier goes small rather than big. For this movie to really come alive, it needed to be splashed on a much broader canvass. As it stands, everything feels rushed and underdeveloped. Things are over before they really begin. Unlike Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and even other dragon epics like the 80's gem Dragonslayer, Eragon always feels rinky dink. For the love of Pete, this movie's about a dragon! It's supposed to be super sized!