Movie

Well, I've finished reading the book, and I am impressed. The film roughly follows the book, but serious differences are quite apparent. Indeed, characters have been left out of the film that really add value to the story, and frankly I think the character of Murtagh, son of Morzan, was portrayed very poorly by the script writers for the film. Garrett Hedlund did, however, do a sterling job with the script he was given.

The film seems to centre on the animosity between Durza and Eragon, where in the book it centres on the maturing of Eragon from a boy to a man. I think Durza only appeared in three or four of the chapters, and in the book, Murtagh shoots the arrow that disembodies Durza, whereas in the film Eragon shoots it. More than a little artistic licence there!

Finally, whilst in the film, Eragon finishes Durza by forcing Zar'roc through his heart, the way they got to that point is all wrong. In the book, the battle ensues in an antechamber beneath the dragon hold, and if it weren't for the quick thinking of Saphira and Arya, distracting Durza, Eragon wouldn't have stood a chance. Indeed, in the film Eragon appears to come off unscathed where in the book he is mentally and physically tired, and Durza slices a chunk out of Eragon's back with his sword which takes Angela the Witch days to fix, albeit leaving a horrid scar like Murtagh's.

All in all, the book is certainly worth your time. Looking at the Wikipedia entries for the characters of Brom, Murtagh, Eragon, Arya and the like, there seems to be fierce criticism of the writer, Christopher Paolini, that Eragon was portrayed as emotionally immature throughout the book, that the character of Murtagh wasn't developed properly, and that there's no attempt by Murtagh to be independent of Eragon in the first book. Whilst, to a degree I would agree that Murtagh could have been better developed as a character in the first book, he does have a mystery surrounding him throughout the text, and it isn't until they reach the Varden he lets Eragon know that he was a son of the Forsworn. I think the critic making the remarks fails to take into account that, much like Eragon, Murtagh is running from the King Galbatorix, and that in essence they both need to take a similar path so they do it together. Perhaps the reason that Murtagh chooses to be Eragon's "pack horse" is that he feels that being together, and with a dragon and a rider, it will make a stronger team. The other things that we have to bear in mind is that a) It is a booked aimed at children, although I would suggest for 14-18 year olds primarily, and b) Paolini was only 15 or so when he began writing the first book.

I've ordered Eldest, the second in the series as I understand that Murtagh turns out to be Eragon's brother, and Murtagh is won over by Galbatorix in the end. I think that this will be an interesting twist to the plot, particularly as a dragon hatches for Murtagh. Having read profiles of Eragon and Murtagh on wikipedia, I'm a little confused as to whether both Eragon and Murtagh are sons of Morzan, Selena or both. I'm sure the second book will clear it up.

Happy new year by the way!

I decided to take Friday off work. I've been feeling a little tired lately, so I thought that now would be a good time to use some of my remaining leave before October, when it 'expires'.

So what does one do on a random day off? First off I headed into town where I dropped my work trousers into the dry cleaners. Then I headed back to my former employer's to meet up with an old friend where we just had a nice chat, and then I drove over to the Cineworld in Greenbridge where I managed to get a matinee seat for the new Stoembreaker movie.

I must admit that I was sceptical of this movie. The format of a kiddie James Bond, a relatively unknown 16 year old actor and a writer's first novel-to-screenplay had all the hallmarks of a flow. HOWEVER I was pleasantly surprised. Alex Pettyfer who plays Alex Rider managed to pull off a young public schoolboy spy very well. Also the stunts and action shots were very well choreographed with Pettyfer actually performing many of the stunts himself.

It's not going to be everyone's film of the month, but if you want a bit of tongue in cheek humour, combined with a bit of action and cameos from Stephen Fry, Robbie Coltrane Ewan McGregor and others, go take a look.