I got <a href=”http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449010/” target=”_blank”>this one</a> via Netflix well over a month ago. It has been sitting around because Caitlin and I were put off by the scenes/snippets leading up to the main menu. Those scenes alone prepared me for this endeavor, so nothing came as much of a surprise.<br/><br/>This movie is pretty bad. It doesn’t even seem to hide the fact that it’s a cheap ripoff of that <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings” target=”_blank”>little epic</a> written many years ago by Mr. Tolkien. Surely, nobody would know those stories and draw serious parallels between them and this. Well, I am aware of the Rings, and I couldn’t help but draw those parallels throughout this film:<br/><ul><li>Evil archenemy. Galbatorix = Sauron. CHECK!<br/></li><li>Dark sorcerer who performs the deeds of the archenemy. Durza = Saruman. CHECK!</li><li>Archer helper dude. Murtagh = Legolas. CHECK!</li><li>Good looking chick who can fight. Arya = Arwen. CHECK!</li><li>”Last stand” city for all humankind built in to a mountain. Farthen Dyr = Minas Tirith. CHECK!</li><li>Person draped in all white clothing while riding a white horse. CHECK!</li><li>Not-so-special hero from a generic past. Eragon = Frodo. CHECK!</li></ul>The big difference is the big series everybody knows about had a great budget, great actors, and  great director. This had none of that. It was very clearly a cheap knockoff. It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t manage to finish watching, but it was bad enough that I checked my e-mail regularly.<br/><br/><span style=”font-weight: bold;”>Grade: C-</span><br/>