Ender's Game (Movie Review)

Review by Paeter Frandsen

For years I've been told by more people than I can count that I should read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It is a considered a classic among sci-fi fans and is even enjoyed by nominal fans of the genre. I haven't gotten around to reading it, because for some strange reason I strongly prefer the fantasy genre when I sit down to read a novel. For my tastes, sci-fi generally works best on the screen. However, that may not be the case with Ender's Game.

In the distant future, humanity is training the world's most brilliant children to be master military strategists. Decades before the story begins, humanity barely survived an attack by an alien race. Years later they are in conflict with them once again.

Ender Wiggan is a young boy in the strategic military training program. He is more promising than any other student in the program, but must still be put through rigorous training and testing to ensure that he is truly ready to lead in large scale combat. The story of Ender's Game focuses on Ender's trials and tribulations in the training program. He faces great strategic challenges both in the formal training games and in his social life. Ender is the repeated victim of bullying because of his high intelligence. As he maneuvers through both tests and relationships, he comes ever closer to his final test, which will determine whether or not he is truly ready to command.

Behind the scenes, two military officers are battling to shape Ender's future. Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) is constantly pushing Ender to be stronger and harder, while Major Gwen Anderson endeavors to protect the boy being turned into a weapon. But who Ender Wiggan is at the end of his training is ultimately up to him.

The cast performs wonderfully across the board. Ford is both hard and likeable as the script demands and the ensemble of child actors is among the finest I've ever seen in a movie. The visual design of the movie is nothing terribly creative, but is executed very well just the same. And the CGI effects are above average, which is always welcome.

Ender's story is interesting, although not riveting. The stakes of the movie remain small and personal until the climax. And although small and personal stakes can have large impact, this isn't the case here. The resulting pace of the film is somewhat slow, although never to the point of boredom. However, I could have used either more intense drama or more action at just beyond the halfway point of the film. The way the climax is handled will also potentially lessen the impact for many viewers, as it comes and goes in an unusual way.

I suspect that the book does a better job of delivering on drama by letting us into Ender's mind, digging past his hard exterior so that we can more truly join him in his emotional struggles. In the film, though, we are more limited in our ability to empathize with him. That said, Asa Butterfield, who plays Ender Wiggan, delivers a great performance and will be an actor to watch in the future.

One of the chief moral dilemmas of the story is the classic "ends versus means" debate. Is it right to turn a child into a cold killer if it will save the human race from extinction? This theme is recurring and hard to miss in this movie. While I believe the "ends versus means" debate should be examined on a case by case basis, I would offer this observation; it is more logical to believe the ends justify the means if you take a purely naturalistic view of the world. If this life is all there is, then of course the ends justify the means. We should all do whatever we can to give ourselves pleasure for as long as we possibly can.

But if this life is not the main event, if our intended state is something that comes after this life, then logically speaking we should not be willing to compromise our morality simply to save ourselves individually, or even to save the entire human race. After all, if the main event takes place after this life, then having this life terminated isn't such a big deal.  Of course, it’s a lot easier for me to I should do the right thing than to actually do it while facing potential death.  (Impending death tends to inhibit logical thinking for many of us.)

If you're a fan of the book, you'll probably especially enjoy seeing this in theaters. For everyone else, it's nothing mind-blowingly awesome, but I think it will make a great weekend rental, and may even give you some worthwhile things to think about.

Rated PG-13 for some violence, sci-fi action and thematic material.
Quality: 8.5/10
Relevance: 7.5/10