Film: Ender's Game

Director: Gavin Hood
Genre: Sci-Fi
Source: USA (2013)
Rating: PG-13
Location/Format: Glynn Place Stadium Cinema
Grade: B-

Part of the reason I have come to really enjoy writing these film reviews--even though I'm mostly just writing for myself--is the opportunity it gives me to think a little more critically about my film-going experiences. Ender's Game is a film that, for better or for worse, wears its heart on its sleeve, and while it kept me engrossed throughout its running time, it is also rushed, poorly scripted, and overly simplistic. It works, and it's a compelling film, but it is not a great film, or possibly even a good one. It accomplishes all of those elements primarily through the seriousness with which it takes itself.

There are many elements that Ender's Game gets right. The universe constructed here, while somewhat bare bones, feels complex, and the visuals are a lot of fun. The battle school sequences in particular are invigorating, and I'm just disappointed we didn't get a little more. And though the film rushes forward too much at times--cramming way too many elements into its long two hours--its relentless momentum makes sense when viewed from the perspective of the military leaders who know what is really at stake here--taking time to stop and talk about feelings isn't an option, and so the characters don't. They just keep running forward into violence. The pace means that even late-movie revelations about the nature of the war seem to slide by as quickly as every other plot point, when we should be hitting new emotional notes. 

And that's one of the film's weak spots. For a film about children, Ender's Game is surprisingly bleak. That's not bad, unless that's all there is. Harrison Ford's gruff barking and an excellent Asa Butterfield's dour expression seem to set the emotional tone for the movie, and they don't really change from beginning to end. The story of mankind's war against an alien race--and the fear that conflict provokes in a war-wearied populace--is brought to us through the eyes of Ender Wiggin, a "third" (meaning third child) who sees his destiny as making it to battle school where his older brother and sister failed. To do so means to excel at destroying his enemies, and Ender is nothing if not gifted in this regard. In fact, the film pounds home the internal conflict between aggression and empathy by making it not only Ender's stated conflict but by externalizing it in two sets of characters--Ender's compassionate sister and sadistic brother, as well as in the stern, warmongering Colonel and the caring psychologist Major who are in charge of his training. We get it. Compassion, violence, kindness, cruelty--these are choices each of us must make within ourselves. But writer/director Hood doesn't let us make those discoveries ourselves. Instead he constantly barrages us with characters who are either kind or cruel. Ender himself seems to be the only character with any sort of internal conflict. 

And that's a problem. The film is so focused on pushing through all the elements of the novel--battle school, zero gravity games, command school, Ender's dreams, etc.--that they never slow down to give us any character depth for anyone besides Ender. And even his conflict is just presented as a flat binary. As I always tell my students in literary analysis: black and white isn't interesting--it's the grey that's worth exploring and talking about. Hood seems to have lost sight of that.

He's not helped by actors--particularly some of the supporting children--who are not that great and can't help make some of the cheesy dialogue sound like, well, children reciting cheesy dialogue. Add to that a denouement that feels under-explained and a little simplistic, and it just doesn't fully gel, especially when given time to process. I did enjoy myself and get wrapped up in the film. It just hasn't stuck with me as much as I'd hoped.