It goes without saying that I am a bit of a movie buff. I tend to go to the theatre at least 2 times a month to see the newest movie that has caught my interest. Since I have no kids to post pictures of, or a wife to wax poetic about... you will get some regular movie reviews from me here. I will try to limit the number of spoilers, or give warnings before posting them, but if I fail in doing so you have been warned in advance.
And so... Today's movie was Ender's Game.
I need to preface this by openly stating I have read the book, and recently. I am not what I would call a fan of Orson Scott Card. While I find his writing to be entertaining and in some ways creative, he crossed a bridge with a series I read decades ago that completely turned me off. The movie's trailers got me to read the book which I found to be decent enough but disturbingly violent when you realize the age of the main and supporting characters. So, enough about the book and on to the movie.
Overall the movie wasn't too bad. But neither was it very good. On a scale of 1 - 10 I would give it a 5.
The good: Special effects were great and I was pleasantly surprised at their handling of the youth violence without skipping it. It really is a key part of the story and they didn't skip it but neither did they overly focus on it. The main character did a great job of looking sad. Too bad there was little other emotions visible.
The bad: One of the biggest challenges all movies based on a book face is deciding how to condense all the story capability of a book into a 2 hour (sometimes 3) movie without making it feel overly rushed or choppy. Then there is the artistic license people use to change the storyline even further, not to mention the producers who want to make their own changes and by the end of it all very few movies every fully represent the book. This was very much the case in this movie. Choppy/rushed? Check. Artistic License used to change the storyline? Check. Producers messing around? Check. If you are a fan of the book... don't see the movie or tell yourself the movie is named something else and not related to the book. My biggest disappointment with the movie was the pacing. If you haven't read the book I fear you would be lost in the movie and yet having read the book I found the storyline still to be choppy and, at times, confusing.
This movie has no nudity and very limited foul language but does have a lot of violence, adult topics (genocide), and some psychological abuse themes.
Seth and Alyssa saw it and liked it well enough. Alyssa liked the book better but said that she like the battle room better in the movie. Seth had not read the book. I read it and may get around to seeing it but it is not high on my list of priorities.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Alyssa. The battle room was done very well.
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