[Movie Review] Ender’s Game (2013)

Posted on November 1, 2013 by thegrandshuckett in Movie Reviews // 0 Comments

Plot Summary: The International Military seek out a leader who can save the human race from an alien attack. Ender Wiggin, a brilliant young mind, is recruited and trained to lead his fellow soldiers into a battle that will determine the future of Earth.

Director: Gavin Hood

Writer: Gavin Hood (screenplay), Orson Scott Card (based on the book Ender's Game by)

Runtime: 114 min

Main Cast:

Asa Butterfield as Ender Wiggin
Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff
Hailee Steinfeld as Petra Arkanian
Abigail Breslin as Valentine Wiggin
Ben Kingsley as Mazer Rackham
Viola Davis as Major Gwen Anderson

Review: by Anthony and Lee

In preparation for the movie, both of us read Ender's Game. We loved it and hoped that the writer/director Gavin Hood would capture the brilliance of the novel and translate the action and characters onto the big screen seamlessly.

What We Liked:

Having read the book, the only positive thing we could think to say about the movie was that it was visually appealing. The set pieces of the battle school and the battle room were great, and the special effects for the fights at command school were stunning.

What We Didn’t Like:

We did not like the changes from the book. We understand that a movie has drastically less time than a book to develop a story, and we agree that some of the plot lines had to be dropped for time’s sake; however, a lot of the changes made for the film adaptation were detrimental to the understanding of the audience, the character development, and the fun of it all.

The novel takes place over the course of six years, with Ender growing up in the battle school, away from his family, kept in total isolation, not even allowed to make lasting friendships. He was made to believe down to the depths of his soul that no one would ever come to his rescue. In the movie, the events seem to take place over the course of months, and he makes friends left and right, even with people who are distinctly categorized in the novel as antagonists.

Colonel Anderson had a much less limited role in the film. A lot of her screen time was fabricated just so there was something for Viola Davis to do. Why even cast such a well known actor/actress for such a small, insignificant role? They ate up valuable time that could have been dedicated to capturing the important parts of the story justifying their casting.

There were key lines from the novel that were incongruously dropped into the film for the sole purpose of pleasing the fans. There was no context given for the lines, and the non-readers were left with no back story or explanation. They were left wondering why seemingly random lines, such as “the enemy gate is down” were found so important by the characters. None of Ender’s many practicing developing Battle Room strategies with volunteers from his rookie squad were shown, including the oh so important strategy about orientation in zero gravity which was developed by Ender himself, not Bean. Also, they never explained why being a “third” was such a big deal.

Finally, there was a strange and completely unnecessary romantic vibe built between Ender and Petra. That came entirely out of left field.

Summary

The movie had such great potential, due to the excellent source material of Orson Scott Card’s 1985 novel, but fell short like so many other book adaptations; although, to be fair, audience members who did not read the book enjoyed the movie a lot, probably because they sensed the greatness of the novel somehow still managing to shine through.

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