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Ender's Game (2013) movie review
12 years ago
General
Taking a load off.
My friends and I have long wondered when Ender's Game would arrive on the silver screen. In the stream of young adult fiction being adapted for the silver screen I always figured it was only a matter of time before Orson Scott Card's 1985 classic Ender's Game received the Hollywood treatment. While I don't think Gavin Hood's 2013 adaptation is going to win over many converts, nor do I think it will particularly anger fans. For what it is I believe 2013's Ender's Game does the best it can within the confines of a 100 minute running time.
I'd like to say right of the bat that it's been a few years since I read Ender's Game. I first read it in the 6th grade, and went on to read it a few more times, most recently being roughly two years ago. From what I remember the movie does a decent enough job summarizing the events of the novel. There are some major omissions to be sure, but there isn't any alterations that made me feel the source material had been betrayed in any way. Problems within the film arise from omissions, not flagrant disregard for the source.
The casting feels spot on. Asa Butterfield is a great Ender Wiggins and is a spot on representation of the kind of kid I imagined reading the book. Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff more or less steals the show, reminding us of what a magnetic screen presence he's always been (although he's more or less just playing Harrison Ford) and Viola Davis as Major Anderson does work excellently well as his counterpart. Ben Kingsley does a serviceable job, but has such little screen time that he doesn't really have a chance to establish his character. Ender's siblings Valentine (Abigail Breslin) and Peter (Jimmy Pinchak) have such little presence that they might as well not exist (despite their significant roles in the book). I can understand why these characters had their roles cut down so immensely for the sake of adaptation, but the film still has them referenced constantly, so their lack of development doesn't help you feel much for Ender's internal conflicts relating to his family.
The main problem with Ender's Game is that it has so much story to tell in such a short span of time. Certain plotlines are sped through, some are omitted entirely, and it just feels incredibly condensed. If you haven't read the book I don't think you'll have time to develop much empathy for these characters, or get a grip of what's going on. Having read the book I was able to appreciate these scenes, but even then it felt lacking; like I was watching pieces of an unfinished whole.
Do I think Ender's Game is a great or bad movie? Neither. It's an okay movie. As a movie it doesn't really stand up on its own merits, so that limits its appeal to new audiences, and a movie should work on its own separate from its source. Then if you've read the book like I have you may feel disappointed by how rushed some of the events and messages are handed to you. This doesn't make it a bad movie, because some scenes do work, but it just never reaches its full potential.
While not reaching its full potential it isn't by any means one of worst adaptations ever made. If you've read the book the movie is worth seeing once or renting, but if you haven't read the book I'd suggest reading it first: it's a good book and the movie makes more sense if you've read it.
I'd like to say right of the bat that it's been a few years since I read Ender's Game. I first read it in the 6th grade, and went on to read it a few more times, most recently being roughly two years ago. From what I remember the movie does a decent enough job summarizing the events of the novel. There are some major omissions to be sure, but there isn't any alterations that made me feel the source material had been betrayed in any way. Problems within the film arise from omissions, not flagrant disregard for the source.
The casting feels spot on. Asa Butterfield is a great Ender Wiggins and is a spot on representation of the kind of kid I imagined reading the book. Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff more or less steals the show, reminding us of what a magnetic screen presence he's always been (although he's more or less just playing Harrison Ford) and Viola Davis as Major Anderson does work excellently well as his counterpart. Ben Kingsley does a serviceable job, but has such little screen time that he doesn't really have a chance to establish his character. Ender's siblings Valentine (Abigail Breslin) and Peter (Jimmy Pinchak) have such little presence that they might as well not exist (despite their significant roles in the book). I can understand why these characters had their roles cut down so immensely for the sake of adaptation, but the film still has them referenced constantly, so their lack of development doesn't help you feel much for Ender's internal conflicts relating to his family.
The main problem with Ender's Game is that it has so much story to tell in such a short span of time. Certain plotlines are sped through, some are omitted entirely, and it just feels incredibly condensed. If you haven't read the book I don't think you'll have time to develop much empathy for these characters, or get a grip of what's going on. Having read the book I was able to appreciate these scenes, but even then it felt lacking; like I was watching pieces of an unfinished whole.
Do I think Ender's Game is a great or bad movie? Neither. It's an okay movie. As a movie it doesn't really stand up on its own merits, so that limits its appeal to new audiences, and a movie should work on its own separate from its source. Then if you've read the book like I have you may feel disappointed by how rushed some of the events and messages are handed to you. This doesn't make it a bad movie, because some scenes do work, but it just never reaches its full potential.
While not reaching its full potential it isn't by any means one of worst adaptations ever made. If you've read the book the movie is worth seeing once or renting, but if you haven't read the book I'd suggest reading it first: it's a good book and the movie makes more sense if you've read it.
