Christopher Paolini began writing his fantasy novel "Eragon" at age 15 and published it at 18. That roughly represents the age range of those who will be interested in a film version of his story, taking place two millennia ago, about a farm boy and his flying dragon. The young author clearly had absorbed J.R.R. Tolkien and any number of fantasy works and European myths before concocting his own timeless world. But it is a world without much texture or depth. Heroes, villains, magic, love, honor and destiny abound, but there is little complexity in the social, cultural or political shape of this world. So this film, directed by visual effects master Stefen Fangmeier and written by Peter Buchman in a straightforward manner, cannot escape the rote nature of such a fantasy.

"Eragon" should play well to young audience during the holidays. Then the dragon movie, like the Christmas goose and New Year's turkey, should vanish rapidly. The 20th Century Fox release might actually soar higher in home video.

Eragon (young Ed Speleers, looking a bit overwhelmed in his first movie) stumbles upon a strange blue stone while hunting in the mountains. After trying unsuccessfully to trade it for food, the thing hatches a cute baby dragon, a breed thought extinct thanks to the evil King Galbatorix (John Malkovich). The king and his sorcerer, Durza (Robert Carlyle), all too aware of the true meaning of the dragon's birth, send men to kill the farm boy and the dragon he has named Saphira.

When his uncle is murdered by marauding, superhuman Ra'zacs looking for him, Eragon escapes with Brom (Jeremy Irons), a seemingly burned-out and cynical old warrior. Brom tells Eragon he is the promised Dragon Rider, fated to play a leading role in the upcoming war between the King's army and the human but hidden Varden army lead by Ajihad (Djimon Hounsou).

The movie takes great advantage of rugged locations in Hungary and Slovakia through which Eragon and Brom must travel to reach the Varden's mountain stronghold. But the centerpiece of the movie is, of course, Saphira, a CG creature of sinuous strength and classical features of striking femininity. With Rachel Weisz giving voice to the dragon's inner thoughts, this allows for a certain flirtatiousness to exist between rider and beast.

Their rides together as they learn each other's moves and in the climatic battle will be the make-it-or-break-it moments for the movie as far as its young audiences are concerned. For adults, these rides prove a little disappointing, a little perfunctory. Because CGI has taken us so many places and given us so many creatures during the past decade, filmmakers have to be much more inventive to achieve anything that feels genuinely new.

The younger actors, which include Sienna Guillory as warrior princess Arya and Garrett Hedlund as a Eragon's rescuer with a dark past, are a little too in earnest. Irons and Malkovich, old hands at nonsensical characters, give their line readings a weary undertone of self-mockery that will provoke a few laughs among adult viewers.

Hugh Johnson's cinematography and Wolf Kroeger's sets pull together a fun fantasy world, though a bit derivative of many other movie fantasy worlds.