Ender's Game

Ender's Game is a 2013 science fiction film based on the Orson Scott Card book by the same name. Steve Jablonsky did the music. Suraj Partha, one of the actors, was born here in Memphis. The film stars Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, Abigail Breslin, and Ben Kingsley. It's been years since I read the book, but I remember enjoying it. I don't remember it well enough to compare the two, but I didn't see anything here that was inconsistent with what I do remember. I need to re-read the 1st three or four of the Ender books. This movie was well cast; everybody was pitch-perfect. The special effects were wonderful. If anything, this movie could've easily been longer, but I have no complaints.

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Moria spends a lot of time discussing Card's views against gay marriage, says the film "ends up better on screen than one expected before sitting down to watch" and concludes: "It works reasonably well as an illustrated version of the book for those who have read it. On the other hand, I have my doubts whether anybody who comes to it as a film without reading the book is going to become a rabid fan." SF Signal gives it 1 1/2 out of 5 stars and finds much to criticize. Empire Online gives it 2 out of 5 stars and closes with this: "It admirably avoids many of the pitfalls of adapting this book, but seems to have lost some of the life and pace as well." Slate closes by saying, "I can understand wanting to skip Ender’s Game as a matter of moral principle [because of author Card's anti-gay activism], but you can also feel free to blow it off just because it’s not that good." EW gives it a C+ and calls it "oddly lifeless and emotionally unaffecting". Roger Ebert's site doesn't like it. Rotten Tomatoes has a 60% critics score.