Movie Review 50: Ender's Game

Welcome back!

It's beena  random, anime fueled week since my last review. I apologize to the non anime loving followers.

Anyway I just walked out of Ender's Game. Based on the book by Olsen Scott Card. I'll admit, i was supposed t read it in school way back, decided to skip it and read something else. I do what i want!

That being said the 3rd act twist was completely out of left field to me. I'll reference the twist but I will try to avoid outright spoilers. though a few might slip in, so proceed with caution.


MOVIE REVIEW: Ender's Game

Pros:
I generally like Sci-Fi movies. and ones set in the near future with technology that I can feasibly see being made are cool. I'll get a bit more into this in the Cons section.

Asa Butterfield played a good Ender, No emotions and very calculating. the rest of the cast was fine for the most part, with Bonzo being a favorite, mostly because he had some personality.

Personally I really liked the special effects, the swarming effect was cool and the weird game they played was interesting. kinda reminded me of Quidditch.

But above all else the best part of the movie was the twist near the end. I didn't really see it coming and it changed the tone of the movie completely.

Cons:
Well, Here's where the review gets interesting. first off, Why oh why do they train children? they say its because they process things quicker. give a 24 year old a case of red bull and he'll wipe the floor with him. Basically the whole movie takes place over 30 days. how does a kid start out playing video games and beating up bullies to winning in Quidditch, returning home, going back, going light-years away, and becoming a battle commander in one month? did i miss something?

All the cast, despite being very good actors barely even tried. they all just played the same characters they've played before. none had any real connection and some didn't even have any impact on the story. I'm sure they have a place in the book but in the movie many of them were wasted.

Ok, let's talk about this game they play. the weird Quidditch thing. I have issues
1. What are all of the things that are floating in the air? how are they repositionable yet when someone hits them they don't move?
2. Why bother with 1 point limb hits and 6 point body hits if one sperm through the hole wins the game? is there a time limit? is there a snitch?
3. how long are you paralyzed if you get shot?
4. what's the purpose of this game other than to have Ender command them? are they trying to say that Bonzo was also a commander potential?
5. why not just block the gate with a floating cube thing so they cant get in?

Some of the camera shots felt very out of focus, like the actors had bad skin or I was looking through a fog.

The pacing was horrible. the movie felt long, yet it felt like everything was on fast forward. Ender just kind of walked right through the whole movie. from cadet to Battle commander really without doing a thing. everything just kinda happened to him.

Overall the movie had no real lasting impact.t eh twist was good but I found myself waiting for him to actually do something the whole time. disguising everything as a simulation just makes it boring.

Final Verdict: 62
Decent special effects but ultimately lacking in so many ways.


So yeah, Next up, More anime!

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