Ender's Game
2/4
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Stanfield, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Moises Arias
Rated PG-13 for Some Violence, Sci-Fi Action and Thematic Material
"Ender's Game," based on the classic sci-fi novel by the now-controversial Orson Scott Card, feels like a missed opportunity. There's plenty of material here to chew on, and to be fair to the film, it does mention it. But it skirts over the thought-provoking stuff in a race to the finish line.
Seventy years ago, Earth was ravaged by the vicious alien species known as the Formics. Earth won, although many were convinced that the Formics would return. Children were being trained as generals to fight the Formics, but no one has been up to the level of Mazer Rackham (Kingsley), who found a way to defeat the Formics. Colonel Graff (Ford) thinks he has found the next Mazer Rackham in Ender Wiggin (Butterfield), a young boy. But is he right, and if he is, can he train him to become the leader Earth needs in time?
"Ender's Game" probes a lot of interesting issues. The conflict between the "win-at-all-costs" mentality versus compassion, the ethics of child soldiers, the age old question of whether murder is ever justifiable, and others. But more so than anything else, this is a character study of Ender, who goes from being a shy but intelligent boy to a brilliant tactician and leader. The latter is of paramount concern to screenwriter/director Gavin Hood, but unfortunately it's the film's biggest problem.
Why is it that Hollywood is so afraid of intelligent action movies? The two are not inherently at odds with each other; in fact, they compliment each other well (just look at "Minority Report" or, for a sounder financial arguement, Nolan's "Batman" trilogy). And yet, in order to get every last person in the theater, intelligence is diluted to the point where no one is interested. "The Dark Knight" made over a billion dollars because it asked difficult questions and forced the characters into impossible moral positions (which, oddly enough, is the cornerstone of this film).
I started reading "Ender's Game" a few years back, and liked what I read, but never got around to finishing it. Based on its reputation, I have a hard time believing that the book was this thin on thematic material. I also have a hard time believing that Gavin Hood is this shallow on his own. Two of his previous features, "Tsotsi" and to a lesser extent, "Rendition," were intelligent, thoughtful pictures. Here, the film pays lip service to the issues raised and nothing more. Character development is even thinner, which makes the main thrust of the film (Ender's maturing into a leader) seem like a trailer for a deeper, better movie.
The acting is the best thing about the movie, although no one is given anything to work with. Asa Butterfield, who made waves in Martin Scorcese's criminally underseen "Hugo," acquits himself very well as Ender. This is an intense character, and Butterfield does everything he can to show us Ender's focus and growing intelligence. Unfortunately, the script lets him down. I have no doubt that, had the script afforded him the latitude, Butterfield could have done something truly amazing with the character. Harrison Ford is also in top form (he doesn't often speak in a forced growl), but he suffers from the same problem: shallow writing. Graff is meant to be a father figure/sort-of-antagonist rolled into one, and Ford plays him as such, but there's no depth to his portrayal. Viola Davis is wasted as Major Gwen Anderson, who values compassion, and is relegated to being a sounding board for Graff's "win at all costs" mentality. Hailee Stanfield and especially Abigail Breslin (whose character was a cornerstone in the book) are wasted. I hope that they were at least well paid. Ben Kingsley's part is important to the story, but due to the poor writing, the character is largely forgettable.
Aside from the shallow script, there are other problems as well. While the action scenes are nicely filmed, the movie itself moves way too fast. Hood should have recognized that this isn't necessarily an action picture. It's a sci-fi drama with action elements. One thought kept entering my mind throughout the whole film: SLOW DOWN! "Ender's Game" also suffers from "Pacific Rim Syndrome," where the loud special effects drown out the dialogue. It doesn't happen to that effect here, but key part of Mazer Rackham's story is lost due to the blaring soundtrack. The script's shallowness isn't the only problem; the writing gets poorer as the film goes on the point where I was almost completely lost in the film's finale.
"Ender's Game" isn't really a bad movie. The story is engaging to an extent, and despite having no depth, it's nice to know that a movie is willing to at least pay lip service to compelling moral questions. But I can't help feeling frustrated since it could clearly have been so much more.
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Stanfield, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Moises Arias
Rated PG-13 for Some Violence, Sci-Fi Action and Thematic Material
"Ender's Game," based on the classic sci-fi novel by the now-controversial Orson Scott Card, feels like a missed opportunity. There's plenty of material here to chew on, and to be fair to the film, it does mention it. But it skirts over the thought-provoking stuff in a race to the finish line.
Seventy years ago, Earth was ravaged by the vicious alien species known as the Formics. Earth won, although many were convinced that the Formics would return. Children were being trained as generals to fight the Formics, but no one has been up to the level of Mazer Rackham (Kingsley), who found a way to defeat the Formics. Colonel Graff (Ford) thinks he has found the next Mazer Rackham in Ender Wiggin (Butterfield), a young boy. But is he right, and if he is, can he train him to become the leader Earth needs in time?
"Ender's Game" probes a lot of interesting issues. The conflict between the "win-at-all-costs" mentality versus compassion, the ethics of child soldiers, the age old question of whether murder is ever justifiable, and others. But more so than anything else, this is a character study of Ender, who goes from being a shy but intelligent boy to a brilliant tactician and leader. The latter is of paramount concern to screenwriter/director Gavin Hood, but unfortunately it's the film's biggest problem.
Why is it that Hollywood is so afraid of intelligent action movies? The two are not inherently at odds with each other; in fact, they compliment each other well (just look at "Minority Report" or, for a sounder financial arguement, Nolan's "Batman" trilogy). And yet, in order to get every last person in the theater, intelligence is diluted to the point where no one is interested. "The Dark Knight" made over a billion dollars because it asked difficult questions and forced the characters into impossible moral positions (which, oddly enough, is the cornerstone of this film).
I started reading "Ender's Game" a few years back, and liked what I read, but never got around to finishing it. Based on its reputation, I have a hard time believing that the book was this thin on thematic material. I also have a hard time believing that Gavin Hood is this shallow on his own. Two of his previous features, "Tsotsi" and to a lesser extent, "Rendition," were intelligent, thoughtful pictures. Here, the film pays lip service to the issues raised and nothing more. Character development is even thinner, which makes the main thrust of the film (Ender's maturing into a leader) seem like a trailer for a deeper, better movie.
The acting is the best thing about the movie, although no one is given anything to work with. Asa Butterfield, who made waves in Martin Scorcese's criminally underseen "Hugo," acquits himself very well as Ender. This is an intense character, and Butterfield does everything he can to show us Ender's focus and growing intelligence. Unfortunately, the script lets him down. I have no doubt that, had the script afforded him the latitude, Butterfield could have done something truly amazing with the character. Harrison Ford is also in top form (he doesn't often speak in a forced growl), but he suffers from the same problem: shallow writing. Graff is meant to be a father figure/sort-of-antagonist rolled into one, and Ford plays him as such, but there's no depth to his portrayal. Viola Davis is wasted as Major Gwen Anderson, who values compassion, and is relegated to being a sounding board for Graff's "win at all costs" mentality. Hailee Stanfield and especially Abigail Breslin (whose character was a cornerstone in the book) are wasted. I hope that they were at least well paid. Ben Kingsley's part is important to the story, but due to the poor writing, the character is largely forgettable.
Aside from the shallow script, there are other problems as well. While the action scenes are nicely filmed, the movie itself moves way too fast. Hood should have recognized that this isn't necessarily an action picture. It's a sci-fi drama with action elements. One thought kept entering my mind throughout the whole film: SLOW DOWN! "Ender's Game" also suffers from "Pacific Rim Syndrome," where the loud special effects drown out the dialogue. It doesn't happen to that effect here, but key part of Mazer Rackham's story is lost due to the blaring soundtrack. The script's shallowness isn't the only problem; the writing gets poorer as the film goes on the point where I was almost completely lost in the film's finale.
"Ender's Game" isn't really a bad movie. The story is engaging to an extent, and despite having no depth, it's nice to know that a movie is willing to at least pay lip service to compelling moral questions. But I can't help feeling frustrated since it could clearly have been so much more.
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