I knew practically nothing about this story before I went to see it, other than it was based on a popular science fiction book (I'm not really a novel reader, except for perhaps Dan Brown and Alan Dean Foster).
The story is set in the future, many years after a mysterious race, who turn out to be insects, although we never see any in actual combat. It brings back memories of one of my favourite films, Starship Troopers. They are both militaristic films, and in both the Earth is in danger of being over run. However, in Ender's Game the major cast members are all 14 years old, except for Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley and a few others. So it is a bit like the junior version of Starship Troopers.
So, in the beginning, the Earth is attacked by a race of insects, who are driven off by a hero. Jump forward a few years, and those very same invaders are about to try again. Now this is the fun part. Because of video games, in the future the best people to lead the army and defeat this evil enemy are teenagers. Yes, you read that right. Apparently there aren't any mature age career soldiers who are up for the challenge. That statement brings up waht may be the films only real problem in my mind, and that's the tone. This is a dead serious film, when it probably would have been better with a slightly lighter touch. That's not a criticism though, because I still really like the film. I may just have the wrong idea about what teenagers respond to these days. Maybe my demographic is the the wrong audience for this film.
There are a few twists in the plot, which were surprising to me at least, but I haven't read the book, so I don't know how different the film is to the book. Those twists may be in the book.
I was amused by Ben Kingsley putting on a South African accent, and then I read that Gavin Hood, the director, is a South African, so I assume it is some kind of in-joke by the actor (or maybe it's a tribute). Gavin Hood, incidentally, also made another film that I quite like, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
I like the cast in this movie. Asa Butterfield plays Ender, and he does it very well. I didn't realise he was in a movie called Hugo until I looked him up on IMDB (I have the DVD of Hugo, but I didn't make the connection. I'm not a big fan of Hugo). There was one actor who really caught my attention, Moises Arias, who plays a bad guy. Well, maybe not a truly bad guy, maybe over ambitious is a better description, who locks horns with Ender and gives him a hard time. I won't say how that ends, but it's a big turning point in the film. And of course, when is Harrison Ford ever not good? Oh, and don't forget Ben Kingsley of course, just to round things off.
I just had a look at BoxOfficeMojo, and it looks like Ender's Game is not doing great at the box office (87 mill return on $110 mill production cost). I have to admit it doesn't greatly surprise me. I did mention that I thought the tone was odd, so maybe other people are finding it hard to decide if this movie is really for them. It's not really a little kids adventure (like Sharkboy and Lava Girl), and a lot of adults would find it slightly silly (14 years olds saving the Earth from a killer race of giant insects?...), so this film may find it difficult to connect with the right kind of audience.
No doubt it will be more popular on DVD and HD TV. The sound is great, and the CGI is very good, although the anti-gravity floating still looks like people on wires (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney were much better at floating in Gravity). I particularly liked all the battle room sequences, despite the slightly dodgy floating.
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