Ender's Game

I've made no secret of my inability in 99% of cases to compare cinema adaptations with their literary equivalents, but make no bones about it. The Film Cache is about the film itself, so regardless of real-world homophobia controversies or deviating re-imaginings from the original text, my business is reviewing the final on-screen product. In the case of Ender's Game, that result is a very competent piece of entertainment; a surprisingly in-depth psychological examination of childhood and the implications of growing up too quickly (if one was to read that much into it) married with some decent science fiction and credible acting performances.


The depiction of the title character comes courtesy of the worryingly spindly Asa Butterfield, who despite needing some fairly serious feeding up, does a great deal of justice to the role of Ender, a hyper-gifted young military cadet chosen to lead a war against a genocidal alien race called the Formics. His performance, alongside a talented selection of his teenage peers and a traditionally gruff and humourless Harrison Ford, is a strong anchor for the story, which although formulaic and slightly predictable in places, ticks plenty enough of the right sci-fi boxes to appeal to fans of the genre.

Conducting Holst's 'The Planets' with a Futurama holophonor has never looked so good.

Indeed, the one other major obligation of such an offering is fortunately also wholly up to scratch in Ender's Game. The visual effects are superb, save for a few moments of slightly awkward zero gravity early on (which in context is quite important), and are especially noteworthy in the final few climactic battle sequences as Ender finishes his training. Sadly, the very final scenes do leave things with a slightly damp ending, which leaves the story a little too 'Lost in Space' for my liking, but thankfully for the rest of the movie, that minor wrong-footing at the end is easily enough forgiven.

Vital Statistics
Director	Gavin Hood
Cast	Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley
Length	114 mins
Post Credits Scene	No
TFC Mash-Up	Harry Potter (probably number 3 or 4 if we're being specific) meets Independence Day
Star Rating