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Jeremy Irons reminiscing on days of yore when "men rode astride magnificent beasts" will probably make grown-up viewers titter but young children shouldn't mind the cheesy bluster of Eragon. Still, this tale of dragons and derring-do risks sending kids and grownups alike drifting away to the Land Of Nod. Debut director Stefen Fangmeier loses his path with a meandering plot that introduces teenager Ed Speleers as the eponymous 'dragon rider'.

Like the character, Speleers takes a while to find his feet on the back of this unruly beast of a movie. His disorientation is understandable though, given the muddled script extrapolated from Christopher Paolini's epic novel. In the opening minutes, Irons (playing Eragon's mentor with a cheeky knowingness) narrates a potted history of a land called Alaga毛sia, which would make even JRR Tolkien dizzy. Then, Eragon happens upon a sapphire egg from whence hatches a dragon...

"THE STORY IS PLODDING"

It's a mad scramble to figure out what this all means for the farm boy so in the meantime, ex-effects wizard Fangmeier slots in a few audacious dragon-riding scenes. But when Eragon comes back down to earth the story is plodding. He trips up because he doesn't have a properly defined mission; one minute he's rushing to find a rebel army to help battle the forces of evil (John Malkovich chewing the scenery) and the next he's off to save a pretty princess (Sienna Guillory), although he's never met her, so who cares? Eragon's relationship with Saphira (voiced by Rachel Weisz) lacks credibility too, thanks to her cut-price CG phizog. Although set in a world of magic, the film leaves you disenchanted.

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