Run Time: 114 mins
Ender’s Game is a sci-fi action movie based off the
critically acclaimed 1985 book of the same title, written by Orson Scott Card. Since
I have never read the book, I went into this viewing not really knowing what to
expect. However, Ender’s Game surprised me in a big way with its smart
directing, big time special effects and exceptional acting, particularly by the
young Asa Butterfield, a not so young Harrison Ford (aka Han Solo) and the
always great Ben Kingsley.
The film opens with an
exciting battle on Earth in the very near future of our world. The Formecs, a
hostile alien species appearing to have a clear goal of annihilating the human
race, are shown invading our planet with nothing but an outnumbered human group
known as the International Military to stop them. If not for a sacrifice play in
the middle of the war by Fleet Commander Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), the
human race would have been destroyed by these extra-terrestrial creatures.
Seventy years later,
the International Military remains intact, preparing for an inevitable second
invasion by the genocidal Formecs that will determine the fate of our planet. The
International Military’s plan for the next war is to take advantage of
technologically advanced teenagers and train them to lead the International
Fleet in battle. One kid they recruited is the shy but strategically brilliant Ender
Wiggin, portrayed by Asa Butterfield. I must acknowledge Butterfield’s
fantastic performance as he completely owned the character of Ender and truly
carried the movie in this lead role.
The bulk of the film took place in the International
Military’s training facility orbiting Earth which is pretty much boot camp in
space. During the teenagers’ training, Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) envisions young
Ender as the one who will save humanity. He mentors him as Ender works his way
through the challenging, competitive academy. It was quite fascinating to watch
Ender complete increasingly difficult tasks and quickly rise up academy’s ranks,
eventually making it to the prestigious Command School.
Overall, I found Enders game to be an extremely entertaining
and very enjoyable film. It felt a bit rushed in parts and missed out on several
potentially emotional scenes, but the outstanding visual effects and strong
acting really made up for it. Personally I cannot compare it to the book, but
from a pure cinematic standpoint this was a very cool and exciting movie.
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