Review: Ender's Game
*Spoilers Alert
Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.
Another attempt to cash in the teen franchise genre, this sci-fi action thriller movie based on the same name book does succeed focusing on its strong points, to a certain extent.
In the future, mankind would have been nearly extinct after the attack of an alien species called the 'Formics'. 50 years after the attack, an intelligent young cadet named 'Andrew Wiggins'(Asa Butterfield) also known as 'Ender' is recruited in the military child soldier program along with many other brilliant kids, after it was decided that the kids are the future and only hope to save mankind from any possible future attack. Upon entering outer space 'Battle School', 'Ender finds out that he has been tapped as the chosen one to save mankind by Colonel 'Hyrum Gruff'(Harrison Ford). This meant that 'Ender''s school life and path to greatness will be a very challenging one filled with difficulties and challenges that will help him or hinder his destiny in becoming the person he wants to be. Other characters 'Petra Arkanian'(Hailee Steinfield), 'Valentine Wiggins'(Abigail Breslin), Major 'Gwen Anderson'(Viola Davis), 'Mazer Rackham'(Ben Kingsley), 'Bean'(Aramis Knight), 'Alai'(Suraj Parthasarathy), 'Bonzo'(Moises Arias), 'Dink'(Khylin Rhambo), 'Bernard'(Conor Caroll), 'Peter Wiggins'(Jimmy Pinchak) and Sergeant 'Dap'(Nonso Anozie).
This movie adaptation of the same name sci-fi book had a lot of pressure amounting on it. It has been many years where many studios, directors and producers attempted to adapt this story to the big screen but ultimately failed. Plus the book author "Orson Scott Card" was very skeptical on giving the rights of his book fearing that it may be done in the wrong manner. When finally production on this movie began, many critics and fans argues that the making of the movie will end up either being huge success and or a complete failure. The end result was in fact between the two. 'Ender's Game' isn't a masterpiece but at the same time it has exciting elements that saved it from being a complete critical failure, even if during it box office run it barely recaptured its production budget and was a box office disappointment. This is another proof that an attempt for adapting a teen book into a movie must be done in the right way, or else it will end up failing such as 'Beautiful Creatures', 'The Host(2013)' and 'Mortal Instruments: City of Bones'.
Director "Gavin Hood" did an acceptable job. The director, who is known for his Academy Award-winning Foreign Language Film 'Tsotsi' and 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine', was able to being a solid continuous tone, set design and directorial vision to the movie. He created an immersive world filled with children, yet felt as an adult world. The backgrounds and gravity simulations were impressive, but of course falling short of the caliber that 'Gravity' brought. The screenplay which he also penned was impressive, including themes that were suitable. The problem with the script was the constant rush in scenes, feeling that it had to hurry up in order to finish on time. Therefore, the structuring of the story should have been executed in a much better way allowing for breathing time for important scenes. "Steve Jablonsky" known for scoring the 'Transformers' trilogy and 'Lone Survivor' did a fantastic job allowing the quality elevation of the movie.
The main problem of the movie was the rush feeling; where many important scenes should have been given more time to expand upon its themes and ideas that were being given. The first part of the movie achieved its purpose, getting audiences to know who are 'Ender' and the reason of the whole predicament. In the middle part, my favorite scene was the battle scene, but the most important one was that of 'Dragon Army' against two armies, including the 'Salamander Army'. The third half of the movie was entertaining, especially the battles simulations, but once again they felt too rushed and their importance was weighed down by the need for the movie to move forward. The ending was very strange, especially in the scene where 'Ender' was communicating with the Queen, where it wasn't clearly stated how he was able to do so.
The cast was one of the main reasons why the movie didn't go down as a huge critical failure. "Asa Butterfield" is surely going to become an elite actor, since he brought monotone psychological and emotional complexity to his character. "Harrison Ford" as always delivers and this character definitely suited him. "Ben Kingsley" as always has the ability to shine with weird characters, and his success in bringing forward the development of his character when baggage is limited was awesome. "Viola Davis" performs when needed, even though her character is very much under used. "Hailee Steinfield" does justice to her characters, as do all child actors/actresses, where both "Aramis Knight" and "Moises Arias" shines the most. "Abigail Breslin" does what is expected from her, though her character was at many times useless, same as "Nonso Anozie".
If not for the cast and director, the movie would have been a disaster with a very rushed script. You would think after these failures, at least one studio would deliver and bring something new forward. Hopefully in 2014, Hollywood will witness its first successful attempt.
-'Ender's Game' Info:
-Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfield, Ben Kingsley, Abigail Breslin, Viola Davis, Aramis Knight, Suraj Parthasarathy, Moises Arias, Khylin Rhambo, Conor Caroll, Jimmy Pinchak and Nonso Anozie.
-Based on: 'Ender's Game' by Orson Scott Card.
-Studio(s): OddLot Entertainment, K/O Paper Products, Digital Domain and Summit Entertainment.
-Directed by: Gavin Hood.
-Screenplay by: Gavin Hood.
-Music by: Steve Jablonsky.
-Running Time: 114 minutes.
-Budget: $ 110,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 61,737,191.
-Foreign: $ 50,494,282.
-Ratings: -IMdb: 7.0/10.
-Rotten Tomatoes: 61%.
-Metacritic: 51%.
-PERSONAL RATING: 7.0/10.
-'Ender's Game' Trailer:
*Spoilers Alert
Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.
 |
| Official 'Ender's Game' Poster. |
 |
| "Asa Butterfield". |
 |
| "Harrison Ford'. |
 |
| "Hailee Steinfield". |
 |
| "Ben Kingsley". |
 |
| "Viola Davis". |
Director "Gavin Hood" did an acceptable job. The director, who is known for his Academy Award-winning Foreign Language Film 'Tsotsi' and 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine', was able to being a solid continuous tone, set design and directorial vision to the movie. He created an immersive world filled with children, yet felt as an adult world. The backgrounds and gravity simulations were impressive, but of course falling short of the caliber that 'Gravity' brought. The screenplay which he also penned was impressive, including themes that were suitable. The problem with the script was the constant rush in scenes, feeling that it had to hurry up in order to finish on time. Therefore, the structuring of the story should have been executed in a much better way allowing for breathing time for important scenes. "Steve Jablonsky" known for scoring the 'Transformers' trilogy and 'Lone Survivor' did a fantastic job allowing the quality elevation of the movie. The main problem of the movie was the rush feeling; where many important scenes should have been given more time to expand upon its themes and ideas that were being given. The first part of the movie achieved its purpose, getting audiences to know who are 'Ender' and the reason of the whole predicament. In the middle part, my favorite scene was the battle scene, but the most important one was that of 'Dragon Army' against two armies, including the 'Salamander Army'. The third half of the movie was entertaining, especially the battles simulations, but once again they felt too rushed and their importance was weighed down by the need for the movie to move forward. The ending was very strange, especially in the scene where 'Ender' was communicating with the Queen, where it wasn't clearly stated how he was able to do so. |
| "Asa Butterfield". |
 |
| "Ben Kingsley" and "Harrison Ford". |
If not for the cast and director, the movie would have been a disaster with a very rushed script. You would think after these failures, at least one studio would deliver and bring something new forward. Hopefully in 2014, Hollywood will witness its first successful attempt.
 |
| Official 'Ender's Game' Poster. |
-Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfield, Ben Kingsley, Abigail Breslin, Viola Davis, Aramis Knight, Suraj Parthasarathy, Moises Arias, Khylin Rhambo, Conor Caroll, Jimmy Pinchak and Nonso Anozie.
-Based on: 'Ender's Game' by Orson Scott Card.
-Studio(s): OddLot Entertainment, K/O Paper Products, Digital Domain and Summit Entertainment.
-Directed by: Gavin Hood.
-Screenplay by: Gavin Hood.
-Music by: Steve Jablonsky.
-Running Time: 114 minutes.
-Budget: $ 110,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 61,737,191.
-Foreign: $ 50,494,282.
-Ratings: -IMdb: 7.0/10.
-Rotten Tomatoes: 61%.
-Metacritic: 51%.
-PERSONAL RATING: 7.0/10.
-'Ender's Game' Trailer:
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