Wick's Review

Summary - Good 3.0

Nice try, but Ender’s Game is barely a winner. Perhaps Orson Scott Card was right in saying his lauded SciFi novel is unfilmable.

BrianSez and other fans of Card’s novel and its sequels may like it better than a newbie like me. I had trouble warming up to it because much of the movie takes place in slow motion training exercises and its deeper themes were little more than suggested. Plus some supporting actors didn’t offer enough support.

That said, it is provocative and features a solid star turn from the estimable Harrison Ford. That’s enough.

Acting - OK 2.5

Asa Butterfield is little more than OK as Ender, IMO. He’s not convincing in the clinches. More importantly, he’s mostly called upon to deliver an internal performance, but appears merely blank-faced.

Harrison Ford’s gruff Colonel anchors the movie. Ford’s well developed gravitas is perfect for roles like this, especially in SciFi.

The support cast ranges from barely OK to good.

• Hailee Steinfeld as one of Ender’s fellow kid soldiers.
• Abigail Breslin as his sensitive sister.
• Ben Kingsley as a legendary officer.
• Viola Davis as a brainy military shrink.
• Moises Arias as a rival cadet leader. Arias simply doesn’t come across as a boy that other boys would follow. He was better cast as the sexually confused twerp in The Kings of Summer.

Film - Good 3.0

This has been a benchmark year for SciFi visualizations. Even though its story is deeper and therefore more provocative, suffice it to say that the visuals in Ender’s Game won’t be mentioned in the same breath as Gravity or Europa Report.

Edge - Risqué 1.6

Reality - Supernatural 3.4

The U.S. Marine Corps recommends the novel as part of its Professional Reading List. The Marine Corps University says it offers “lessons in training methodology, leadership, and ethics as well.” Source: Wikipedia

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