Ender’s Game

The premise  of  Ender’s Game is children (12-15 years old) can process information quicker than adults and their gaming prowess teaches them valuable tactical skills. This makes them the ideal soldiers for future battles. The concept of children soldiers is not unique; it goes back to David and today exists in the battle fields of Africa.

The problem with Ender’s Game is Ender, he is the best. He is told in the beginning of the movie that he is the best. In every situation, be it a school test or a battle simulation, the outcome is no surprise. His ascent in military rank is without obstacle.  Ender is two dimensional. His character would be more interesting if he had to overcome failures. Redemption makes for good story telling; people relate.

Asa Butterfield (the kid in Hugo) plays Ender placidly punctuated with some lively periods of homicidal rage. His performance is functional but not memorable. The other child actors are perfunctionary. There is a transition from hostility of his fellow cadets (no one liked Ender in the beginning) to comradery which coalesced into his squadron.

The adults are Harrison Ford, Viola Davis and Sir Ben Kingsley. The megawatt star power in this movie is wasted. None of their roles was demanding or required any acting range. Even big stars need to pay the bills. Harrison Ford is the colonial in charge of the academy for the young soldiers. In this movie he is the angry Harrison Ford. He is humorless and demanding, a scowl is his mask. Viola Davis is Major Anderson, the psychiatrist. For most of the movie you only see shots of her from the waist up, this is a metaphor for wasted talent. In this movie she does not need to dig deep for emotions.

Ben Kingsley shows up towards the end of the movie as a legendary pilot. The meaning of his New Zealand Maori face tattoos eludes me. He just looks ridicules. To save money they could have hired Mike Tyson for the role and saved money on make-up.

Three quarters into the movie it gets interesting. May be it’s my age but I did not expect it (I am sure all the video brats out there are making fun of me). The ending is hokey and clearly a set up for a sequel (doubtful).

If you are into Sci-Fi go see it, if not put it on your Netflix wish list… maybe not.