Ender's Game

After twenty-eight years, writer/director Gavin Hood did what no one did before. And that was to make a film off of Orson Scott Card's career-making novel Ender's Game. Even if it did change parts of the story, it still gets its point across devastatingly clear.

In this far-off future, Earth was attacked by the Insectoid Aliens, the Formics. Only the sacrifice of their greatest pilot, Mazer Rackham, stopped the invasion. For the next fifty years, Earth has stood waiting for the Formics to return. And when they do return, they'll have their greatest weapon ready: child soldiers.

One of these child soldiers is Andrew "Ender" Wiggin (Asa Butterfield). Wiggin's strategy of dealing with school bullies, "beat them down and they'll never hurt me again" impresses Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford). So Graff decides to train Ender to lead child soldiers like him in simulation battles. Only then will they be ready to neutralize the Formic threat.

What makes the film quite watchable is Butterfield as Ender. This reluctant hero is capable of violence, but he never tries to justify what he did. In fact, when he does lash out, he's quite remorseful. When the novel's final twist plays out on-screen, we'll just be shocked as he is.

The film's visual effects are, pun somewhat intended, stellar. One of the best uses of them is the anti-gravity room where Ender and his fellow soldiers play their war-games. Who wouldn't want to play around in there? The film's production design uses physical sets as much as digital ones; both look cool. Its score by Steve Jablonsky is just as memorable as his work on Transformers.

Ender's Game is an involving story with great visuals. It lasts for 114 minutes and I wasn't bored once. It's not in 3D, so any price is worth it for this well-realized movie.