Director: Gavin Hood
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Sir Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin
Rating: Rated PG-13 for some violence, sci-fi action and thematic material
The International Military seek out a leader who can save the human race from an alien attack. Ender Wiggin, a brilliant young mind, is recruited and trained to lead his fellow soldiers into a battle that will determine the future of Earth.
Initial Reaction:
If there is one thing we've gotten this year in film is an overabundance of teen novels being adapted to the big screen in hopes of finding the next "Harry Potter." The year has contained "Beautiful Creatures", "The Host", and "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" with all three failing miserable at the box office. All those films failed to have what Harry Potter has or Twilight has or even most recently The Hunger Games which is a big following. All three of those franchises have huge fan bases which contributed to their successful runs. Even though I don't read a lot, I am still familiar with the main three with the other failed films were unknown to me until their release. So the latest try from Hollywood comes in the form of "Ender's Game" based on the 1985 novel by Orson Scott Card. What also helps "Ender's Game" is it has had 25 years to build a franchise which will mostly help in its favor, and it looks different. All the books being adapted to the screen are mainly teen romance with a plot in the background, they've all become so repetitive that a lot of them are almost cringe worthy and fail to utilize the most entertaining aspects of the story (Vampires/Werewolves, Witches, Gods, etc.). "Ender's Game" plot focusing on using child soldiers to prevent an upcoming war seemed very interesting and the plot alongside the great cast (Harrison Ford, Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld) was what got me to see the movie. After seeing "Ender's Game" I can say while the film was enjoyable and had its good parts, the film was overall very muddled in execution and kind of just all over the place.
Plot: (2.5/5)
As stated above the film is very all over the place. Now I've never read the book and what I'm about to say might be explained in the book but the film does a poor job of portraying it and that is why Ender is so special. We meet Ender at the beginning as a smart kid who can get himself out of situations but for him to be the main character they never really tell us what makes him so different from all the other kids in the program and how he is miles smarter than the rest of them. He also moves up the ranks of program very quickly and it is just explained poorly how and why any of this is done other than Harrison Ford thinks he's special. Also a lot of this film is just training you get about 2hrs. worth of Ender training and it does get a little repetitive after a while, but the characters were interesting enough that it wasn't too much of a problem. Now with the main plot being about the alien invasion, when the plot focuses on that and the characters focusing on that its a lot better. Especially when a plot twist is revealed in the third act the film picks up definite momentum but it leaves you wondering why the first two thirds of the film felt like so much filler.
Directing: (2.75/5)
From the onset, Gavin Hood seemed like a weird choice to direct "Ender's Game" with his last major blockbuster film "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" being viewed universally as the worst X-Men films and superhero film in general. He plays it pretty safe with "Ender's Game" he doesn't do anything that really puts a negative on the film but he also doesn't do anything to elevate the material. As important as this book was its weird to see such carelessness handled with the script which Hood also wrote. The film is rushed and tries to put in way too much plot exposition not leaving you with much film. I feel that maybe Hood is not the best choice for these big budget films as he's proven with smaller films "Rendition" and "Tsotsi" that he can make good films but a lot of independent directors have struggled with the jump of independent to mainstream.
Acting: (3.5/5)
The acting is where this film really shines, what sets this film apart from most young adult novel adaptions is the ensemble that has been put together. From veterans such as Harrison Ford, Viola Davis, and Ben Kingsley to Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, and Abigail Breslin, the film is very well acted. Asa Butterfield as Ender is probably the best thing in the entire film. As weird as the character of Ender was written, Butterfield plays with him a very dark sternness with a hint of vulnerability that make him an engaging character to follow. Harrison Ford is also very good as the guy in charge of training and the main supporter of Ender you get the vibes of a father son relationship in the way Harrison Ford pushes him. Being a character that was around during the first attack, seeing the way Ford acts in comparison to others really makes you feel for him and see why he does the things he does by the end. Viola Davis plays second to Harrison Ford and she adds the emotional weight of the film trying to tell Ford what they're doing to these kids are wrong and their interactions are very well with each other as they are both very talented actors. Also Hailee Steinfeld pops in as a member of Ender's group and it's kind of disappointing that she is wasted and not given much to do, with the time she is given though she is entertaining to watch. She has very good chemistry with Asa Butterfield. I hope if a sequel is made that she'll get more to do in it. Abigail Breslin plays Enders sister and she's barely in the film but she was fine. The last I forgot to mention above is Ben Kingsley who plays one of Ender's teachers and he was good too but he has a limited but important role in the story. The rest of the cast was pretty underdeveloped and weren't as important to the story but they were fine, nobody was bad in this film.
Replay Ability/ Recommendation: (2.75/5)
If you are a fan of the novel this film is based off of or just big budget popcorn films I think you can enjoy "Ender's Game", the film is long and a little all over the place but its entertaining enough that you won't regret watching it after the film ends. Now I don't believe you need to rush to the theater to see it with "Thor 2", "The Hunger Games 2" and "The Hobbit 2" all on the horizon but when it comes out on Redbox, it'd be worth checking out.
Final Grade: 2.8/5 (C+)(RENTAL)
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