Film Review - Ender's Game (2013)

Available on DVD and Blu Ray -

“Ender’s Game” – (2013) – Orson Scott Card’s popular Military/Sci-Fi novel is adapted to the silver screen by Screenwriter/Director Gavin Hood (the guy who unleashed the terminally shitty X-Men Origins: Wolverine upon audiences) and suffers from a safe but hurried execution.  This futuristic tale of a young prodigy (Asa Butterfield) being tapped as the “chosen one” to defend the Earth from an impending invasion of aliens, known as “Formics” here, is a choppy and weightless affair- I haven't read the novel it’s based upon but can only believe it’s legions of fans must be thoroughly disappointed.

The production looks nice but is rarely striking, while Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley (Ghandi) and Viola Davis’s (The Help) involvement lends a certain legitimacy to the film, they’re all relegated to little more than snippets of commentary.  Butterfield (Hugo) is merely serviceable as the film’s central character, yet inadequate in the department of charisma and presence- he simply can’t carry a film at this juncture.  Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit 2010) is wasted as the pretty girl thrown into the mix for the sake of demographics, while Abigail Breslin’s (Zombieland) fleeting screen-time hints at a troubled production that sliced a ton of footage for run-time concerns- this is yet another undercooked “epic” that desperately needed a good half-hour of added development and exposition.

I could only roll my eyes at the film’s reasoning behind Earth’s military leaders deciding that children should be our saviors, training and sending them into battle simply because kids were “raised on wargames” and “young people integrate complex data more easily than adults” (these are direct quotes from the film)- what a crock of shit!  All the more daft when one considers that the film depicts an early prologue sequence showcasing how the first invasion was thwarted by an Adult jet pilot who knocked an alien carrier out of the sky kamikaze style- this manner of sacrifice is commendably gutsy but doesn’t require much intellect (or a child's involvement)… C’Mon, Man!

Most of the training depicted in the film consists of zero-gravity laser-tag sessions, while there is no close quarters skirmishes between the kids and their alien antagonists- the “battles” play out in space amongst dueling starfleets.  There is one sequence where an Alien Queen pops up late in the film- though the effects work is commendably rendered, it’s a rather brief and uneventful scene.

An 11th hour reveal and a subsequent flip of the script reeks of hypocrisy and doesn’t add up to a lick of sense.  I’m positive that Card’s novel (beloved by masses) handled the plot development with far greater depth and care, though the filmmakers (mis)handling of the (anti)climactic “revelation” is downright absurd.  It’s an eye-roller and a deal-breaker- the shit icing on a mud cake.

***Spoilers*** 50 years in the past, the Formics invaded Earth and killed tens of millions of people- when Earth’s forces retaliate and destroy their home planet, it is discovered that the Aliens attacked us because of a communication breakdown and that Earth’s inhabitants should feel remorseful for this “misunderstanding”… Yer shittin’ me, right?

I’ve grown weary of this Young Adult film barrage and find myself grateful that this particular rubbish bombed at the box office- no sequels!


5.0 out of 10


Director: Gavin Hood
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Nonso Anozie, Moises Arias and Viola Davis
Run-Time: 114 minutes
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some violence, sci-fi action and thematic material.