ENDER’S GAME
By: John ’Doc’ Strange
Directed by: Gavin Hood
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Abigail Breslin, Harrison Ford, Moisés Arias, Aramis Knight
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for some violence, sci-fi action and thematic material)
Selig Rating: FULL PRICE
Runtime: 114 Min.
In 1985, ENDER’S GAME was published. I read the story that author Orson Scott Card wrote was insightful an innovative, a true joy for a sci-fi reader such as myself. At the time I knew that the story would be great on the screen but I didn’t have a clue as to how it could be adapted.
Jump forward to 2013 and the release of Ender's Game starring Asa Butterfield as Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, the young prodigy being nurtured as the possible savior of the human race. Why did the human race need saving?
It seems that in the year 2086 a race called the Formics tried to colonize our world but were defeated by the daring and heroics of a man named Mazer Rackham. Fifty years have gone by and the human race is living under the shadow of a return visit by the aliens. Huge amounts of talent and wealth are being spent to build a fleet that can defeat the Formics once and for all.
To this end the leaders of the Earth have established the International Fleet to take the fight to the Formics. To defeat, no more than that, to wipe out the entire Formic race. Children are trained from an early age in the ways of tactics and strategy, the art of war. It is felt that at a young age, people can more readily adapt to the ways of the Formics. Ender was the best to ever come along.
Ender’s Game is the story of the final weeks of the war as Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) and Major Gwen Anderson (Viola Davis) tweak Ender’s final training prior to placing him at the head of the fleet. The special effects at Battle School and in the space battle sequences is awesome, some of the best I have seen.
The story stays true to the soul of the books. This is so rare these days. I liken it to the fact that Orson wrote the original screenplay himself. It went through rewrites with additional screenwriters before Orson threw them out and did an entirely new screenplay utilizing the Petra character (Hailee Steinfeld) more than the originally intended Bean (Aramis Knight).
I enjoyed watching this film, a definite FULL PRICE on our scale. One of the highlights for me was seeing Moisés Arias in the role of Bonzo, leader of the Salamander Army. We saw him this year at the Dallas International Film Festival on the red carpet promoting his film, The Kings of Summer.
Movie Site: http://endersgamemovie.com/
The Selig Rating Scale:
FULL PRICE – Excellent movie, well worth the price
MATINEE – Good movie
DOLLAR – OK movie
CABLE – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
FREEBIE – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn't paid for it.
COMMERCIAL TV – Commercials and cutting to the allotted time will not hurt this one.
FORGET IT! – Bad. If you see this one, do yourself a favor and keep it to yourself.
GET YOUR TORCHES – BAD! – Burn the script, the writer, the director and maybe even the actors!
