Orson Scott Card’s novel “Ender’s Game” is an engrossing, passionate tale of Andrew “Ender” Wiggin progression from a young, naive child into a battle-hardened military commander. The book is gripping, touching and multi-layered. Director Gavin Hood’s film adaptation of the novel, however, does little but retell the story of a kid who kills aliens. The movie oversimplifies a classic, fantastic story, stripping away the creative nuances of the book and leaving behind a flat narrative with even flatter characters.
The story follows boy-genius Ender Wiggin, who has been recruited by the International Fleet to train to serve as chief-commander of their space vessels in a counterattack against the “Formic” aliens. If that sounds like little more than a typical sci-fi alien story, that’s because it is. What made the book so beloved — its in-depth exploration of Ender’s character — is absent in the film. The once strong characters that make the book unique have become caricatures, and Ender is one-dimensional at best.
Ender, played by 16-year-old Asa Butterfield, is bland and barely displays any emotion. When he does, it’s either too overt or incredibly shallow. Admittedly, the script does little to help the young actor, as it forces him to dish out seemingly endless angst-ridden cliches: “I thought you were my friend,” “Do you still love me?” and “Why me?”
The other child actors simply seem confused. Ender’s sister Valentine, played by Abigail Breslin, seems to breaks into tears spontaneously with no rhyme, reason or background to explain her sadness. Even more disappointing than Breslin, however, are the film’s other young supporting actors, who seem devoid of humanity as they deliver their lines with deadpan faces and monotone voices.
The only believable character is Harrison Ford’s portrayal of the embittered Colonel Hyrum Graff. Whether he’s angry at the aliens, Ender, the other children or just the world in general, Ford gives the audience his best “grumpy old man” from start to finish with beautiful execution. Unfortunately, Ford can’t hold up the entire film on his own.
The moving soundtrack and stunning visuals at least provide a welcome distraction from the actors. The music underscores each scene perfectly and adds tension and excitement to scenes that would otherwise have fallen completely flat. Even so, most of the time the dramatic music is paired with actors gazing blankly at the camera, drooling out their lines.
When coupled with the film’s stunning visual effects, the music synchronizes with the film flawlessly. Never before have space ships duking it out looked so good or been so fun. But if all you’re looking for is an imaginary battle royale, find some toy spaceships from your childhood and play with them for an hour and 44 minutes while Bach or Vivaldi plays in the background. You’ll get a similar effect, but save 13 bucks.
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