Composer
Patrick Doyle, who cast a dark cloud (in a good way) over
Harry Potter on the soundtrack to 2005's
Goblet of Fire does just the opposite for the film adaptation of the popular young adult novel
Eragon. An amalgamation of the worlds of Potter, the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Anne Mcaffery's Dragonriders of Pern, Eragon is a by-the-book fantasy and it deserves a predictable score.
Doyle takes a page from every schmaltzy trick in the "adventure film's composer" book, pulling the pulpy bits from
John Williams and the heavy bits from
Howard Shore with confidence and precision, but it doesn't make it worth listening to. The two non-orchestral pieces, "Keep Holding On" by
Avril Lavigne and "Once in Every Lifetime" from singer/songwriter
Jem sound exactly like what one would expect from the titles. ~ James Christopher Monger