For a movie with as long a production history as Ender's Game, the finished product feels rushed. Like too many science fiction films and novels, there's far too much exposition to get through before the real story grips us.
To sum what the movie takes ages to tell is that an alien race tried to take over Earth. They were defeated and sent packing to their home world. But now the international armies recruit preteens to become commanders should the aliens return.
Asa Butterfield, so great in Martin Scorsese's Hugo, strikes the right balance of intrigued and terrified as the title character. Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) takes an interest in Ender after he encounters a bully and wins, sending the bully to the hospital.
Graff exploits Ender's strategic mind and propensity for violence, quickly moving him up the ranks of various military academies. Unfortunately, this means other characters that could potentially be more interesting than Ender (because, man, does this kid cry a lot) are barely seen and never given a chance to show any depth.
But the film's biggest problem is that it has to serve two purposes: it has to be both an effects-heavy blockbuster and "” depending on your reading of the film's big twist "” a staunch anti-war statement. It would have been interesting to see how a director like Duncan Jones, who's already made two sci-fi films about the government exploiting its soldiers, would have likely nailed the right balance. Gavin Hood, director of that horrendous first Wolverine movie, wobbles the whole time.
Still, as someone who's never read the books and only knows Orson Scott Card based on his recent political statements, I was never, ever bored with this movie. Even though Summit is still a small studio, it's spent money well here. And that twist still packs an emotional wallop, even if it wasn't entirely earned.
For a film that's taken so long to get made, the mere fact that it should please both general audiences and die-hard fans of Card's book is a small miracle in itself. It's a solid sci-fi film in its own right, which makes it worth seeing. But unlike Gravity, this isn't one for the ages.
