We at TGD have been following the developments of Ender’s Game very closely. It’s one of the most popular sci-fi books of the last thirty years, and a movie adaptation has been a long time coming. Now the reviews are in. The verdict?
Variety says, “Against considerable odds, this risky Orson Scott Card adaptation actually works, as director Gavin Hood pulls off the sort of teen-targeted franchise starter [studio] Summit was hoping for.”
Summit was the company that gave us Twilight, please ignore that fact for a moment please, and as Variety tells us, they’ve been hoping to launch the “next YA powerhouse” with Ender’s Game. While it probably won’t hit Twilight or Hunger Games numbers, it could indeed launch a nice franchise in its own right.
The Wrap called Ender’s Game a “complex sci-fi adventure that appeals to children’s inner adults…Ender’s Game sacrifices none of the source material’s complexity in chronicling the eponymous hero’s journey from trainee to commander of Earth’s armies. In doing so, [director Gavin Hood’s] successfully crafted an allegorical film designed to attract large numbers of kids – even if many of them will miss the intricacies of its underlying message.”
Digital Spy calls Ender’s Game an “ambitious but flawed sci-fi blockbuster.” Pointing out that the film is being hyped as “Star Ward meets Harry Potter,” Spy writes that the film “never reaches the heights of either, but it should be admired for attempting to splice a grey-area morality play into a CGI space adventure.”
We’ll take ambitious but flawed, as long as more sticks to the wall than doesn’t. We can certainly respect a movie that aims higher than the usual brain-dead blockbuster, so we’re definitely looking forward to Ender’s Game when it’s released on November 1.
