Eragon

The dragon, voiced with maternal concern by Weisz, is a lot more charismatic than its rider--the teenaged farm boy of the title (Speleers in his film debut). A sword-and-sorcery flick, based on the first novel in a trilogy by Christopher Paolini (who was a teen himself when he wrote it), has a bad king (Malkovich) and his evil wizard (Carlyle) oppressing the little people in a mythic land--until Eragon and his dragon Saphira, aided by mentor Brom (Irons), can rally the rebels (there's always rebels). The kids will probably enjoy the adventure--even though the film is left open-ended for a sequel--but it doesn't hold much crossover appeal for adults.