Review: Ender's Game

Directed by  Gavin Hood

Partial cast list
Asa Butterfield as Andrew "Ender" Wiggin -  Jimmy Pinchak as Peter Wiggin -
Abigail Breslin as Valentine Wiggin -  Harrison Ford as Colonel Hyrum Graff  -
Ben Kingsley as Mazer Rackham

Even if you are just lightly interested in Science Fiction it is likely that you have in passing heard the name Orson Scott Card or at the very least the movie based on the first book in his Ender series called Ender's Game.   Well the movie is out on DVD/Blu-Ray so I thought I would give it a go.

Taking on this project, the producers HAD to know that Ender's Game and the Ender Series is one of those Sci-Fi sacred cows you hear about.  But it did not seem the final product was in any way.  So we headed into the experience and ultimately felt that the effort worthwhile.

You see, Ender's Game is devilishly convoluted without seeming to be.  50 years ago an alien race called Formics (because of their resemblance to ants) attempted to set up a colony on Earth.  We managed to chase them off at great cost and they have never returned.  However the space military think it prudent to train and equip a standing fleet in the event of a recurrence .     Andrew Wiggins is the youngest of the family's children and like the others before him, he applies to battle school  and is accepted, but unlike his older siblings, he continues to advance. 

But as in a lot of movies not everything is as it seems.

So what did I think?  Well there was piles of stuff left out...Most only touched on.  This meant they took what could have easily been a three hour movie and managed to cram it into less than two.  Most of the sets are claustrophobic.  I do think that the cast was spot on for the most part....and overall I think that the film followed the book well enough, there were no glaring discrepancies which I was worried about.  They didn't do very good at setting up the second in the series and from what I hear is not a shoe in......damn.

So how would I rate it?  Well if you are into sci-fi and you know the series its a clear ehhhhhhhhhh n n n nine...?  Maybe 8.5.   However because the voice over really doesn't  do a great job of explaining anything, and if you had never heard of Orson Scott Card your going to be in the dark then and that/s an 8 and that.s a shame.