I liked the book. I really did. I thought it was a great fantasy story with dynamic, entertaining, and complex characters. The plot was great; it was an intricate and well-done book. When I heard a movie was being made, I was excited. I had hoped they would take this great book and make it the next big fantasy series. I was sorely mistaken.<br /><br />First of all, how can you possibly expect to take such a long book and cram it into 1hr and 40min? IMO, any fantasy movie such as this should be at least 2 hours, preferably more. Because what does fantasy appeal to? Intelligent people. Next, the acting was terrible. Even Jeremy Irons and John Malkovich (who there is more of in the trailers than the actual movie) were laughable. Saphira as Rachel Weisz wasn't particularly well cast; she sounds a bit young and not very wise, as Saphira is supposed to be. Ed Speleers, ouch. There was no expression in his voice AT ALL. Every line sounded the same: so monotonic. Sienna Guilliory as Arya was depressing. Acts more like a teenager than the wise elf she is supposed to be. The only pretty decent characters were Durza (Robert Carlyle) and Murtagh (Garrett Hedlund).<br /><br />Whoever wrote this should be fired. This is the most clichéd movie I have ever heard. One line is said about 5 times. It's utterly disgusting. You know right what's gonna come out of a character's mouth even before he or she says it. Oh, and this: "Time to fly, do or die!" I bust out laughing during one of the "tensest" parts of the movie.<br /><br />To top it off, this movie is BORING. All the action is over in about 6-10 minutes. The rest is just dialogue that serves to advance a poorly cut plot that the audience isn't interested in. The whole thing seems very pieced together. Scenes continually cut to one another, giving an episodic feel and messing up the movies flow. The whole thing is just cheesy.<br /><br />Overall, read the book. Skip the movie. You will be SO disappointed.