Ender's Game Movie Review

Almost thirty years after its publication, the acclaimed sci-fi novel Ender's Game makes its big screen debut. Young Ender Wiggin is burdened with many things: he has lived with the guilt of being an illegal third child, suffered from bullies in the form of classmates and his big brother Peter, and the fear of what he will become when he grows up. When he is approached by Colonel Graff of the International Fleet to attend Battle School, he discovers that his greatest burden is the hope that the IF has for him, that he will save the world. As training commences and he moves up in the ranks, he becomes unsure of the hope his teachers have for him, and doubt that he will succeed. Will he defeat his enemies? Can he defeat his enemies? Who are his enemies? It's all about the game. The problem is, it's not a game.

Fans of this book series have waited many years for this movie, and it was definitely best that it was held off for so long. Orson Scott Card made a good call in holding back, because this film would not have been as impressive without the quality graphics that it has. The Battle Room, the most familiar setting in the book, is brought to life in a spectacular way, making it more impressive than what is described in the story. The battle scenes also possess amazing quality, and the futuristic aspects are even greater than the book (considering that Card had predicted things like the iPad in 1985, the creators had to add some other form of future technology that is not present in the novel, but fits in very well).

Although the movie does not include the great political struggle that is spoken of in the book (due to time), the film makes up for it in the characters and the actors that play them. Summit could not have chosen a better actor than Asa Butterfield to play Ender Wiggin, who works very well with Harrison Ford's Colonel Graff. Every character was casted well, and because of their performances the story retains the emotion and questions that it had in the book concerning guilt, the cost of winning, and the role that childhood plays in the lives of young people just to name a few.

Even with the good casting, graphics, and well chosen plot cuts (again for the sake of time) the film is not perfect. The film is very rushed from the get go, and even those who have read the book and know the intricate workings of the story will feel as if they went from zero to sixty in two seconds. The important aspects of the story, for example Peter's long time cruelness to Ender, is not missed and is assuredly grounded, but the characters never seem to have a moment to breathe for how fast it goes. However, it does in a way reflect the strategy of the book. Card is famous for jumping from one year to the next within one paragraph in Ender's Game that gives the reader whiplash, and it is the same way in the movie.

It has been a very long wait, but it was definitely worth it. Ender's Game does a phenomenal job of staying very close and true to the original source, and although it may not be better than the novel, it is one of those rare films where fans can say that is not worse than the book. In the better/worse game, they are tied.

Sincerely,
   The Night Owl