The hype around the movie version of Ender's Game has not been that positive, though mostly the negativity focussed on the opinions of the book's author rather than the film itself.
Of the film, I had heard little, though the previews painted a picture of a film that might be a little... dull (in comparison with something like the Hunger Games) but was going to be visually spectacular. Still, I was keen to go, even though I was a little uncertain how the screenwriters would adapt the book to meet the needs of the screen and whether I would appreciate how they had interpreted the fight and battle scenes.
And unfortunately I didn't.
Its not the actors' fault - well, except for Ben Kingsley, but more on him later. Harrison Ford plays gruff Colonel Graff, determined to mould young Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield, big eyes dewy to maximum effect) into the hero that will save humanity from the Fourmic race (called the Buggers in the books, but the name was changed for political reasons). Ender is trained in schools on Earth and in orbit on how to be the best commander the world has ever seen, to win no matter the cost, but to not be unnecessarily cruel because, in the paraphrased words of Wiggin himself, to know the enemy is to love them. Of course, it doesn't help that the term "winning" in this case is a moving target. When fighting human opponents, winning tends to mean scoring more points in the battle simulations (and the zero g engagements are quite well done); but noone really defines what "winning" is against the Fourmics.
As the battles get bigger and more intense, the film is meant to ratchet up a notch, but unfortunately (and this may just be for a New Zealand audience), the appearance of the legendary Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley) actually detracts from the escalation going on in the film. His strange Australian / South African accent is distracting yet forgivable until he explains to Ender that he has a facial tattoo as his father was a Maaaari, complete with Australian twang and all. Perhaps he was a Mozzie or something, but even the GC cast were, I am sure, respectful of Maori pronunciation. After being quite silent and engaged up until that point, the audience all burst out into an embarrassed round of nervous laughter. And from there on in, every time Rackham spoke, it was hard to keep a straight face.
The ending of the film, like the beginning, was a bit rushed and stumbled a little. I did not think that things were made particularly clear as to what exactly was going on. The book has a lot of threads that the movie just didn't have the time to cover, but the movie seemed to refer to these an awful lot, even when we knew there would not be any pay off. Ender's brother and sister (who I found had the most annoying hair imaginable) play a strange and important role in Ender's life, but we get more scenes of a computer generated Valentine Wiggin than we do of the real thing (this is not a bad thing in my opinion). And I am not entirely sure what to make of the Fourmics and their civilisation in the end either - am I meant to be impressed with it or something?
Some of the deviations from the book annoyed me but really had little impact on the story that I could see: the fact humanity had faster-than-light ships; the strange reason why the launch pad from earth seemed to be somewhere in the Canadian Rockies (why?); Ender seemed to be getting a girlfriend; and Ender was not the youngest or smallest kid in the school.
Still, the most jarring aspect of the film was Kingsley's accent. The rest was impressive to look at, and though the pacing lagged at times, it kept my interest throughout the running time. But ultimately, at the end of the film, it feels a little empty - why should we feel what Ender feels? Here's hoping that there are no sequels that will try and explain it to us.
Verdict: Ender's Game looks amazing, but doesn't quite manage to turn the source novel into something as good as the Hunger Games. Kingley's accent is appalling (why not just hire Cliff Curtis?) though everyone else on board is solid and fine, and Butterfield does quite well considering the range of emotions he is asked to feel. But overall, the film doesn't quite achieve victory, no matter what tactics Wiggin may use. A 7 on a D10.
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