ENDER'S GAME (2013 - SCI FI / ADVENTURE / ACTION)
***1/2 out of ***** / 7 out of 10
(Think of it as Basic Training for Space Bratz)
CAST: Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Stenfeld, Viola Davis, Abigail Breslin, Jimmy Pinchak, Ben Kingsley.
DIRECTOR: Gavin Hood
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and compelling reasons to read a book before seeing the movie - straight ahead.
IT'S LIKE THIS: Ah, Boot Camp. Think of it as hazing for the world's most elaborate and privileged fraternity: the Military. This is how I framed Basic Training to an acquaintance getting ready to attend it. I told him to think of himself and his fellow recruits as fraternity pledges being put through the paces by dickhead upperclassmen (i.e., drill sergeants) for six to eight weeks. But when it's all done, it is all keg parties and pussy (or dick) galore. But in the case of the military, make that international keg parties and international pussy (or dick) galore - since the military is the kind of fraternity that circles the globe, and you get to have a whole slew of interesting experiences (and, um, people). But like your average pledge at Delta Pi Whatever, ya just gotta first make it through the gauntlet. And the best way to do that is with a sense of humor.
Which brings us to our next review, ENDER'S GAME, which is basically a Boot Camp Flick disguised as a Slam Bang Action Film - with very little humor, excepting one awesome one-liner about someone's mother than I actually used on an asshole I went to school with. But more on that switcheroo later in our BUT SERIOUSLY portion. For now, let's discuss the plot of this film that is based on a (apparently) classic novel by Orson Scott Card. In the opening we are told that Earth has been attacked by a bunch of bug-like aliens (is there any other kind these day?) called the Formic. Fortunately, the pesky critters got their asses handed to them because of the heroic sacrifice of Major Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley). The surviving Formic skedaddled back to their cosmos on the ass-end of the Universe - and have not returned since then.
Not content to sit on his ass and wait for the next onslaught, however, powerful military figure Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) convinces the World's governments to set up a formidable pre-emptive offense that involves... recruiting a bunch of whiny adolescents. Apparently, Colonel Graff believe that teens and pre-teens make the ideal combatants because they're still impressionable and sort of, um, developing. But (let's face it) mainly because the script told him so. This is how our hero, Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), gets pulled into the maelstrom. Apparently, his other two sibling have already washed out of the training program: younger sib Valentine (Abigail Breslin) was too empathetic and ended up caring too much for the Formic, while older bro Peter (Jimmy Pinchak) was too bloodthirsty and endangered his own comrades in battling the aliens.
Colonel Graff slowly comes to believe that Ender just might be the perfect blend of Valentine's compassionate emotional nature - and Peter's ruthless, formidable one. In short, Ender would make the perfect commander because of his ideal blend of feeling and courage. Or at least, that's what Graff tells his colleague, Colonel Gwen Anderson (Viola Davis). Now all Ender has to do is deliver on the promise that Graff seems so sure is within him. Not that there's any kind of pressure on poor Ender. Good luck, kid. You'll need it.
So... will Colonel Graff be proven right? Is Ender the "one" they have all been waiting for to vanquish the threat of the Formic? And are the Formic planning to come back to attack Earth anyway? Is Colonel Graff right when he says Earth must strike first to teach the Formic to never fuck with us again? Or is it yet another example of overly-aggressive military strategy? And will Ender himself choose to participate? How will this all end for Ender and his fellow teenybopper warrior recruits?
Not sure, but I'm thinking they're not going to wind up at the local mall to hang out for a couple of hours and do nothing special before catching a flick at the Cineplex next door. Ah, the joys of being average....
BUT SERIOUSLY: Movie marketing can be very tricky. You want to entice the audience without giving away too much, as some narrative cards should be kept firmly up the sleeve and saved for the actual viewing of the movie. On the other hand, if you don't reveal enough about the movie in the trailers, you may end up not piquing the interest of the prospective viewers - and the film can open weakly. What you don't want to do, however, is sell a film to be what it is not. That may work in the short run by attracting audiences during opening weekend - but in the long term it can prove disastrous, as word-of-mouth spreads fast that the film is not what it was sold to be. And movie audiences can be very unforgiving and have long memories - which affects the reception of future sequels.
Such is the case of our latest film, ENDER'S GAME. Based on a popular novel by Orson Scott Card from the mid-80s, this film is said to be quite faithful to the source material. Anyone who has read the book will know exactly what they are getting as they go in to the film. However, majority of the target audience for this movie (teens and young adults) were born after the book was published and most likely haven't read it - and they have only the trailers and previews to rely on to determine what the movie is about. And therein lies the probem...
You see, the trailers for ENDER'S GAME make it look like a dynamic action film filled with battles with the Formic aliens. In reality, the film is essentially an extended series of training segments. There is a twist at the end that cleverly plays off the whole "training warfare vs. real warfare" and is quite devastating, but this movie is more of a cerebral rather than visceral thriller. Hardcore action fans will not get their fix here. Those of us who like our thrills a little bit more heady, though, will have no problem with it.
However, because this film was marketed as an intense action/thriller, that is the majority of the audience it attracted - at first. Since it opened, ENDER'S GAME has dropped sharply at the box office. It has nothing to with the quality, but disappointed expectations from the wrong crowd. The action movie crowd.
Quality-wise, the film is solid. The story is actually quite compelling and intellectual, exploring as it does how a hero should balance ruthlessness and resolve with compassion and humanity. It also preaches a theme of tolerance, which is quite surprising because of Orson Scott Card's reported homophobia. Whatever the disparity between the themes of ENDER'S GAME and the beliefs of its original writer, the movie itself is quite refreshing and thought-provoking. And, once again, therein lies the problem: the marketing of this film did not paint it to be the heady and cerebral coming-of-age film that it is. Instead, the press made it sound like yet another action-filled entry into the "Humans Vs. Aliens" sub-genre. And it most definitely is not.
Asa Butterfield is okay as Ender. When I say "okay" I mean he is passable, but he is certainly not as dynamic or compelling as we would like. Same with Hailee Stenfeld as Ender's love interest Petra. She, too, is competent but, again, not necessarily commanding. The same can be said for the rest of the young cast. They don't do anything wrong, per se, but they don't exactly stand out, either. Harrison Ford is similarly solid-but-unremarkable. He doesn't bring the fire and passion that the role of Colonel Graff screams for. Someone like Lawrence Fishburne would have nailed this role. By contrast, Ford almost seems to be phoning it in. Fortunately, the plot of ENDER'S GAME remains interesting enough at its core to keep its relatively bland cast from hurting it. The only two castmembers who distinguish themselves are Viola Davis and Ben Kingsley. Davis is quietly riveting as Colonel Gwen Anderson, Graff's more compassionate colleague, while Kingsley brings energy and charisma to the pivotal role of Mazer Rackham.
In the end, ENDER'S GAME is a good adaptation of the novel. It's just a shame the marketing didn't reflect the true nature of the story. With the right promotion, it might have attracted the right audiences - a more intellectually-inclined one instead of an action-oriented one. And with a more dynamic cast (excepting Viola Davis and Ben Kingsley), this movie could have rated higher. As it is, it's merely good.
Last but not the least, Steve Jablonsky’s visceral, stunning musical score for ENDER’S GAME deserves praise. It goes a long way in accentuating the emotional urgency of the storyline. As with his music for the underrated BATTLESHIP, Jablonksy uses an array of electronic and conventional instruments to create an elegant and energetic score that strengthens the film.
