Now that it has reached DVD, I finally had the chance to sit down and watch the movie adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. And while many may hold issue with the man himself due to his antiquated viewpoints, the original Ender’s Game novel was one of my favorites and still remains in that category today. Thus, it was important to see this movie, for better or for worse. By the end, I felt like the movie was very well put together and had a great many merits, even if it did lose much of the essence of the original story.
If you haven’t seen/read Ender’s Game, the story is set in a world where humanity was almost destroyed by an alien bug race. We barely managed to survive, but the threat of impending attack has us on the offensive. It’s been 50 years since the bugs last showed up and all that time a human fleet has been making its way across the stars toward the alien homeworld.
Enter Ender. And an entire boot camp filled with children. They are being trained to lead the next fight against the bugs. The training is rough and they are often pushed to their limits, but it’s all for the good of humanity. Ender is put through trial after trial and eventually emerges as the best, leading the fleet to victory without even knowing it. But there’s more going on beneath the surface.
First, I’ll talk about what really impressed me. The graphics and FX design in this movie were absolutely amazing. Some may complain that they have too much of a video game feel to them, but whoever was in charge of translating OSC’s world into the visual medium is deserving of much praise. Each element is stylistic while at the same time remaining practical enough to not induce that feeling of “what the hell is that supposed to be?” The visuals are accompanied by a strong soundtrack that highlights the sci-fi/war genre of the movie without distracting from it.
I have no judgment either way when it comes to the acting. It’s sci-fi, so you can’t expect too much from people that spend 75% of their time in front of a green screen. When it comes to mood, pacing and atmosphere, the movie was brilliant. It strays significantly from the book in many regards (mostly in what it chose to omit), but the movie worked well for what it was trying to achieve.
Which leads me to the biggest complaint. The movie kept enough of the subtleties of the book that those who have never read it were likely confused at parts. It lacked enough of the book’s subtleties that if you had read the book you were disappointed at what was left out. Thus, it never decided on one technique or the other. In the end, what this movie needed was another 30 to 40 minutes of screen time. They should have gone all the way and told the full, epic tale of Ender’s Game, including the political bits back on Earth.
I definitely do not agree with the Rotten Tomatoes rating of 61/70%. I’d put it more in the low-to-mid-80s myself. It was put together very well even if it may have been confusing at times. The end message of morality may have felt like it was delivered with a sledgehammer, but the rest of said message remained in the background throughout the majority of the film. If I had seen this flick as a child, I would probably have made it one of my favorites of all time. As it stands, I’d watch it again, but am just too jaded to take it that far. As are, I would guess, most of the critics out there.
Photo Credits -
Ender’s Game courtesy of thinkingfilmcollective.blogspot.com
2 comments