By: B. E. Alexander
It’s official. The teen paranormal romance is dead, ushering in the new trend – teenage dystopian future blockbusters. After the horrific Reign of the Twilight Saga compelled scores of hormonally-charged fangirls into a collective frenzy at your local theater, movies about kids being forced to fight each other to the death or trained to prevent and attack an alien race from destroying earth have arrived to fill the void left by the Cullen family.
Following the success of The Hunger Games, Hollywood decided to cash in on the hype by churning out movies of a lesser quality—-dull, half-baked efforts. The main concern is to find the next big franchise.
Such is the case with the new movie adaptation of the popular young adult science fiction book, Ender’s Game, that focuses more so on visual effects than telling a deeper story.
In the future, 50 years after Earth’s population is nearly decimated by an insect-like alien species called the Formics or “buggers,” the government mandates that every child must undergo rigorous training to develop military strategies and skills in hopes of preventing and ultimately annihilating the Formics in its International Fleet (IF).
Why are children being used instead of adults? Because it is easier for IF to brainwash them into becoming mindless killers who carry out orders without question or regard for life.
Andrew “Ender” Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is a child soldier that quickly rises through the ranks to become commander of the entire International Fleet.
From the start of his training, a commander Graff in the IF (played by Harrison Ford,) realizing Ender’s potential to be “The One” who will save mankind from future destruction from the Formics.
Ender has proven himself an expert at military strategy in war games and a leader that others want to follow. Still, the movie fails to explain why Ender is so special and why he is singled out by his upper command. There are plenty of kids who have also proven themselves to be great leaders and experts on figuring out strategies during war games.
So, why Ender?
The answer lies in his bizarre CGI dreams. However, they fail to make any sense. The connection between his dreams and his special abilities is not revealed until the very end.
Even when it is revealed, the long dream sequences seem more like finding something to take up time to make it a two-hour long movie than serving to move the story along.
This is one of the many problems with Ender’s Game. Throughout the movie, it feels like there is more focus on the surface than the deeper story. There are long training sequences in which teams of young cadets engage in laser-gun battles with each other in zero gravity.
However, there is never any opportunity for audience to get to know and relate to Ender. He is emotionless and driven by something in his past that is never shared. Relationships are glossed over.
One can argue that it is a difficult task to make a faithful adaptation. This movie fails to provide details. It has a high concept idea, but cannot deliver.
For those who have read the book, they will know the story’s background and will not be disappointed.
Still, anything is better than a movie about a tortured vampire with sparkly skin and severe attachment issues.
