Ender's Game (2013)

Film Title: Ender's Game
Released: November 1, 2013
Directed by: Gavin Hood
Written by: Gavin Hood based on the novel by Orson Scott Card
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld & Ben Kingsley

Plot: In the wake of an alien attack on Earth, the International Fleet pin their hopes on young Ender Wiggin to save the human race from the extraterrestrial threat.

IMDb: 6.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 60/100
My Score: 4/5

Let me first say that I love the book Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and have read just about every entry into the various series of subsequent novels that have expanded the Enderverse, as it has been fashioned. I first read the novel when I was in junior high and have reread it every few years or so since then, gleaning something different from it each time. It is one of the few books that I given several times to numerous people as a gift and stands as one of my favorite novels of all time. With such an emotional attachment to the source material, needless to say I was extremely skeptical of a Hollywood adaptation and dreaded watching it. My fears, however, were unfounded. Ender's Game is the story of Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a boy who is given the responsibility of saving all of humanity. In a future where Earth has been attacked by an insectile alien species known as the Formics, the world has banded together and formed the International Fleet, a world military force dedicated to preserving our planet and our species. Children are trained from a young age in military academies and then in a floating space station known as Battle School, commanded by Col. Graff (Harrison Ford). In his many trials at Battle School, Butterfield is honed into the greatest military commander humanity has ever known, equal parts compassion and killer instinct. The film is incredibly acted not only by Butterfield, who brings the beloved character to life better than I could have hoped for, but also by the fantastic supporting cast, including Ford, Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin (all Oscar nominees), and Ben Kingsley (an Oscar winner). Moises Arias gives a chilling performance as Bonzo Madrid, an arrogant and somewhat sadistic fellow student who takes an immediate dislike to Butterfield due to his own insecurities. Top notch effects combined with the social and moral questions raised by the script, and to which it gives no answers, makes Ender's Game a underrated film adaptation of a young adult novel in a market that now seems to be flooded with films using this type of source material (The Hunger Games, Divergent and The Giver to name just a few). The film was the source of controversy due to author Card's religious views, namely his opposition to homosexuality and same-sex marriage stemming from his Mormon faith. Several groups and individuals called for a boycott of the film in protest. In response, Card, who was also a producer on the film, did not take part in the marketing campaign. Ender's Game was nominated for three Saturn Awards (Best Science Fiction Film, Best Supporting Actor: Harrison Ford and Best Performance by a Young Actor: Asa Butterfield) and Butterfield was nominated for Best Young Actor awards by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Phoenix Film Critics Society and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association. While it is nearly impossible to adapt a novel of any type to the screen word for word, Ender's Game succeeds more than it fails and distills the essence of this incredibly powerful novel better than most.