 The film received mostly negative reviews , garnering a 16 % approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes ; the tenth worst of 2006 . The Seattle Times described it as " technically accomplished , but fairly lifeless and at times a bit silly " . The Hollywood Reporter said the world of Eragon was " without much texture or depth " . The story was labelled " derivative " by The Washington Post , and " generic " by the Las Vegas Weekly . Newsday stressed this point further , asserting that only " nine @-@ year @-@ olds with no knowledge whatsoever of any of the six Star Wars movies " would find the film original . The acting was called " lame " by the Washington Post , as well as " stilted " and " lifeless " by the Orlando Weekly . The dialogue was also criticized : MSNBC labelled it " silly " ; the Las Vegas Weekly called it " wooden " . Positive reviews described the film as " fun " and " the stuff boys ' fantasies are made of " . The CGI work was called " imaginative " and Saphira was called a " magnificent creation " . Paolini stated he enjoyed the film , particularly praising the performances of Jeremy Irons and Ed <unk> . 
