Credible Credits
Year: 2013
Director: Gavin Hood
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, and Ben Kingsley
Tagline: This Is Not a Game
Synopsis: Ender Wiggin is a brilliant boy recruited and trained to defend Earth from an alien threat.
Synopsis: Ender Wiggin is a brilliant boy recruited and trained to defend Earth from an alien threat.
Review
I'll admit it from the start: I haven't read the book. Whether that increases or diminishes my credibility to review this movie I leave to you.
A few posts ago I said that one of the hallmarks of a good movie is that it sticks with you after the credits roll. Even hours or days later, you may still find yourself thinking back on something a character did or said or how the plot unfolded. By that standard, Ender's Game is a good movie. It certainly has left me thinking the last few days ... thinking and analyzing.
Visually the film is terrific. I read somewhere that one of the reasons it took so long for the book to be adapted to the big screen is because the technology simply wasn't there to do it justice. The technology is there now and it was beautiful. "Seamless" is a word critics like to use when talking about visual effects; the idea being that you simply cannot tell where reality ends and computer generated images begin. At least from my one viewing, the effects seemed pretty seamless to me. I believed in the weightlessness in the battle room. And overall, it felt like a "real" world.
One difficulty the film had was the fact it often felt like a book adaptation. I felt like I was at times missing information or that we were being rushed through scenes and sequences that there was more to. That is of course a difficulty inherent in chopping a book down into a two hour run time. But it shouldn't feel like you're missing information. In that sense, I think I might have liked the movie more if I had read the book so I could fill in some of the gaps.
Perhaps it was a result of the above difficulty, but I found it hard to understand the characters. Asa Butterfield did a good job of portraying a tactically brilliant, albeit socially awkward Ender. The other characters didn't feel as fleshed out. They were just there. Case in point: while I thought Harrison Ford did a good job as Col. Hyrum Graff, I never felt I understood what made him "tick."
What has stuck with me in the days since I saw Ender's Game is the story itself. It raises all sorts of ethical questions. And the movie doesn't shy away from the fact there are some grey areas. However questionable some of their actions may seem, most of the characters are really just doing the best they know how in complex, high stakes situations. They don't even necessarily like what they are doing, but in true Machiavellian style, they believe it is ultimately for the greater good. As I watched the story unfold, two verses from the Book of Mormon kept coming to mind:
Overall, I liked Ender's Game. It's a well done movie that is beautifully rendered and decently strung together. And it makes you think, which I always appreciate in a film. And although I'm not going to rush out and read the book, I'm still very glad I saw the movie and I recommend it.
A few posts ago I said that one of the hallmarks of a good movie is that it sticks with you after the credits roll. Even hours or days later, you may still find yourself thinking back on something a character did or said or how the plot unfolded. By that standard, Ender's Game is a good movie. It certainly has left me thinking the last few days ... thinking and analyzing.
Visually the film is terrific. I read somewhere that one of the reasons it took so long for the book to be adapted to the big screen is because the technology simply wasn't there to do it justice. The technology is there now and it was beautiful. "Seamless" is a word critics like to use when talking about visual effects; the idea being that you simply cannot tell where reality ends and computer generated images begin. At least from my one viewing, the effects seemed pretty seamless to me. I believed in the weightlessness in the battle room. And overall, it felt like a "real" world.
One difficulty the film had was the fact it often felt like a book adaptation. I felt like I was at times missing information or that we were being rushed through scenes and sequences that there was more to. That is of course a difficulty inherent in chopping a book down into a two hour run time. But it shouldn't feel like you're missing information. In that sense, I think I might have liked the movie more if I had read the book so I could fill in some of the gaps.
Perhaps it was a result of the above difficulty, but I found it hard to understand the characters. Asa Butterfield did a good job of portraying a tactically brilliant, albeit socially awkward Ender. The other characters didn't feel as fleshed out. They were just there. Case in point: while I thought Harrison Ford did a good job as Col. Hyrum Graff, I never felt I understood what made him "tick."
What has stuck with me in the days since I saw Ender's Game is the story itself. It raises all sorts of ethical questions. And the movie doesn't shy away from the fact there are some grey areas. However questionable some of their actions may seem, most of the characters are really just doing the best they know how in complex, high stakes situations. They don't even necessarily like what they are doing, but in true Machiavellian style, they believe it is ultimately for the greater good. As I watched the story unfold, two verses from the Book of Mormon kept coming to mind:
Now the people said unto Gidgiddoni: Pray unto the Lord, and let us go up upon the mountains and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the robbers and destroy them in their own lands. But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord forbid ... we will wait till they shall come against us. (3 Nephi 3: 20-21)
But when I [Zeniff] saw that which was good among them I was desirous that they should not be destroyed. (Mosiah 9:1)Whether Orson Scott Card had those passages in mind as he wrote the book I have no idea.
Overall, I liked Ender's Game. It's a well done movie that is beautifully rendered and decently strung together. And it makes you think, which I always appreciate in a film. And although I'm not going to rush out and read the book, I'm still very glad I saw the movie and I recommend it.
Quotable Quotes
- "In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him." -- Ender Wiggin
- "Since when do you have to tell the enemy when he has won?" -- Mazer Rackham
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