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Ender's Game (2013)
Daniel's Review
The new sci-fi action movie ‘Ender’s Game’, adapted from the 1985 novel with the same name.
The movie has its moments, then doesn’t, so I am very mixed on this movie.
The positives first is the visual effects. They are pretty outstanding and incredible. Special effects studio Digital Domain did a great job at the effects as they do look pretty realistic.
The second positive is the cast, most of the cast were really good. Asa Butterfield (Hugo) did a great job at portraying the character of Ender Wiggin. In fact, out of all the characters, his the most likeable character, and really, the only one you really care about as they dive into his past, his strengths and his weaknesses, the other characters, while they did a great job acting, there’s nothing written in the film about these characters besides they attend Battle School that you really care about, with the exception of Ender. Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) was good as the character Petra and Harrison Ford (Star Wars fame) did a good job as Colonel Graff. Surprisingly, the best character in the movie, acting wise, was Moises Arias (Hannah Montana fame) who was menacing and did a fantastic performance as Bonzo.
The problems I have in this film is the script. Nothing much really happens first half of this movie. They don’t set this universe up as much as it should have been and you just have to work out why these things are happening in the movie, especially the opening of the film.
But if you have read the book you will get this movie a lot having known prior background information about these characters, then for someone who hasn’t read the books like myself.
The movie runs at 115 minutes, but the long first half of this movie is very stretched out and makes this movie seem longer than it is, which was a good and bad thing, as some scenes weren’t as good or entertaining as some of the other scenes.
Overall, this movie does have a unique and cool premise, but does miss the mark on being a really cool sci-fi action film that it should have been, but I do think it is good family fun and has some incredible effects with some really good acting, you will have fun with this movie, but in my opinion, while it is fun and has some incredibly funny moments, it just misses the mark on what could have been a really strong sci-fi motion picture.
Score: 7.6/10
Published: December 8th, 2013
Details
Review
Release Date: December 5th, 2013
Studio: Summit Entertainment, Lionsgate
Runtime: 114 mins
Rated: M
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Nic's Review
Do I start with the good news or the bad news?
The good news is Ender's Game is a decent movie by itself with some pretty cool action scenes.
The bad news is it is oh so disappointing if you've read the book.
First, though, what it does right is the portrayal of Ender. Asa Butterfield does a great job as the titular character. Also, the climax and Ender's reaction to its outcome is exactly how I imagined it. So those are the positives.
The negatives?
The biggest problem here is the writing; too much exposition, inconsistent tone and terrible pacing through the first two acts. Major events in the book a skimmed through like a liquid breakfast in order to get to the end in time and as a result you don't care for any characters other than Ender and even then, it can't compare to the book. I don't normally judge a film's quality by comparing it to the book it's based on but in this case, the novel really shows the unfulfilled potential here.
Ender's Game, the book, is a brilliant work of literature that dissects so many interesting ideas about humanity and war through the lens of a child. Ender's Game, the film, could have been brilliant too but instead is just mediocre because it sacrifices substance for spectacle.
If you've read the book I recommend avoiding the film.
If you haven't, I highly recommend reading the novel.
Shame.
Score: 6/10