Review – Ender’s Game

WORDS PAUL CASHELL

Ender’s Game, the long anticipated adaptation of the seminal sci-fi novel of the same name, written by Orson Scott Card, doesn’t know what it wants to be. Having heard it described, aptly enough, as “Harry Potter in space”, one would imagine it to be a coming of age story, aimed at younger teenage audiences. The dodgy script and touch-and-go acting by the mostly adolescent cast would almost be forgivable, but with the plot being gamely crammed full of themes — ranging from the influence of virtual reality on children to the morality of using child soldiers — it’s clear the screenwriters had higher hopes for this project than a simple-minded adolescent adventure.

The plot is an entertaining ride to take, and is laid out clearly allowing those who haven’t read the books to dive right in. Ender Wiggin is a gifted child at an academy for the incredibly gifted on a futuristic Earth. He graduates, with the rest of Earths most gifted children, to Battle school, a high orbit space station. Here the finest young minds are trained to be the planet’s finest defence against the Formics, a bug-like alien life form that killed thousands when they invaded Earth years before the time of the film.  It’s hard to pinpoint which of the movie’s two glaring flaws do the most to ruin the experience: the incredibly inconsistent acting or the hammy script. In occasional immersion breaking scenes, we are torn out of this detailed and fascinating universe by a perfect storm of flat, clichéd dialogue and just plain insincere acting that makes you wonder how Asa Butterfield (who plays the protagonist, Ender Wiggin) ever got past the audition process. The issue, in fairness, could have something to do with the character. Ender Wiggin clearly works as a protagonist for the series of books. He’s extremely gifted with a tactical mind with an inherent ability to lead. In a book, a charisma-less protagonist may serve to allow the reader to slip into their shoes. In the film, it just leaves us wondering why people love and befriend this character. Despite his incredible empathy (which the movie reminds us of every twenty minutes) Ender comes off as emotionless. So not a great character to adapt perhaps? No, it is more down to Butterfields inability to bring any life to the part that scuppers it.

Nonetheless this is a fantastic and interesting world, and the film has much in it’s favour. Any time we see Ben Kingsley on screen (although this won’t be enough for most people’s liking) the audience is sure to sit up and take notice. Harrison Ford’s performance as Colonel Graff, Ender’s commanding officer-cum-father figure is a somewhat diluted performance until the aforementioned third act when he gets to inject a bit of passion into the part. Gavin Hood’s directing not only avoids any major fumbles but succeeds in setting up some pitch-perfect action set pieces such as the ‘’Battle Room’’ scenes as well as any of the dogfight segments. The C.G.I and the amazing design of the universe deserves special mention here for creating shots with as much content and action as Michael Bay’s Transformers. The third act did not disappoint, it’s not so much a twist as a perfectly arranged climax that rounds the film off in a very satisfactory manner.

In all, this movie can’t come with a  wholehearted recommendation. There’s certainly something there if you love original sci-fi, want to see something pretty, or if you just want to get out of the house. However, the overarching issues of the poor script and varying standards of acting creates a general sense of disappointment. There seems to be high hopes that this movie will launch a fanbase large enough to give Lionsgate a franchise, using Orson Scott Card’s extensive writings in the Ender’s Game universe. With such a fascinating canon, and maybe a few more years for Butterfield to sure up his acting, potential sequels could be something to look forward to, but only if Ender’s Game can somehow gain momentum after this lackluster offering.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *