Ender's Game - Das große Spiel

"Ender's Game," directed by Gavin Hood, is a visually impressive science fiction film based on Orson Scott Card's beloved novel. While the movie boasts strong performances and stunning special effects, it ultimately falls short of capturing the depth and complexity of the source material, resulting in a somewhat superficial and rushed experience.

The film follows the story of Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a young prodigy recruited by the military to train as a commander in the fight against an alien race known as the Formics. The premise is intriguing, and the movie excels in its depiction of futuristic space battles and military training. The special effects are top-notch, particularly the zero-gravity combat training sequences and the epic final battle. These scenes are visually captivating and do justice to the imaginative world Card created.

Asa Butterfield delivers a solid performance as Ender, effectively portraying his character's intelligence, determination, and vulnerability. Harrison Ford, as Colonel Graff, and Viola Davis, as Major Anderson, provide strong support, adding gravitas to the film. Ben Kingsley, despite limited screen time, makes a memorable impression as Mazer Rackham. However, the standout performance comes from Hailee Steinfeld as Petra Arkanian, who brings warmth and depth to her character, making her one of the most relatable figures in the story.

Despite these strengths, "Ender's Game" struggles with its pacing and narrative depth. The film rushes through key plot points, sacrificing character development and emotional resonance in the process. The training sequences, which should be the heart of the story, feel abbreviated and lack the necessary build-up to make Ender's rapid rise to command believable. The relationships between characters, particularly the camaraderie among the young recruits, are underdeveloped, missing the richness of the novel.

The film's attempt to condense the complex themes of the book into a two-hour runtime results in a disjointed and superficial narrative. The moral and ethical dilemmas that Ender faces are not explored in sufficient depth, diminishing the impact of the story's conclusion. The twist at the end, while visually spectacular, lacks the emotional weight it should carry because the audience hasn't had enough time to fully connect with Ender's journey.

In addition, the film's portrayal of the Formics and their motivations is somewhat lacking. The novel delves into the complexities of this alien race, presenting them as more than just a faceless enemy. The movie, however, reduces them to a simplistic antagonist, missing an opportunity to add layers to the story and provoke deeper thought about the nature of conflict and understanding.

The box-office failure of big budget (110m$) book adaptation 'Ender's Game' doesn't bode well for the future of my favorite movie genre. Writer Orson Scott Card has had many offers since the book release in 1985 to turn it into a film. He rejected many of them because of creative differences and because most Studios insisted on making Ender older (in the book he's 6 to 10 years old). There were plans in 2003 by Warner Brothers to let Wolfgang Petersen have a go at it with a script written by Card himself. Card's script was a fusion of 'Ender's Game' and 'Ender's Shadow'. In 2010 Gavin Hood got attached as director and screenwriter and the script became based on the first book again with plans to make it into a franchise or a TV series if successful. Unfortunately EG made only 112m$ worldwide (although it opened first place in the US with 27m$) so all future plans have been put on ice. It's really a shame because as far as science fiction flicks go this really is one of the better ones. The VFX were done by Digital Domain who also co-financed the film and they look absolutely stunning. This film will a good 4K showcase Blu-ray when they finalize the format at the end of 2014. The film follows the book quite closely but because of the time constraints of the film medium a lot of events had to be compressed and some subplots where eliminated. 113 mins really is too short, an extra 40 mins or so would have let more room to expand on Ender's training etc. Altogether I think most fans of the book will be happy with the end result but it it just lacks the depth the book had to offer. So hopefully they make a 3 hour extended version (depending on how much material they shot) on BD to give the story more time to breathe.

I have read the first two Ender books years ago, so I knew what to expect from the movie. And it delivered. "Ender's Game" is a deeply disturbing tale of a child made into a monster by the fears of his society. Much like "Neon Genesis Evangelion" at its most puissant, it makes one wonder what is there in humanity worth protecting, and at what price.

This movie was actually really good! I thoroughly enjoyed it, the characters were great, storyline was intriguing, and acting was good. I expected a 6.6 movie, but got one way better than that.

I went into this movie with no preconceptions at all.The only thing i'd heard about this film was the title.I'm so glad i didn't read up on it first because i think this would have spoilt it for me.For the best part of the film its shot in space which credit where credits due is filmed fantastically what with the like of Gravity not long coming out and stealing all the limelight for its display of life in space and hands down it certainly deserves its merits.With that aside Enders Game is a marvel in itself.Great direction and production in this leaves you happy that you took the time out to watch this.A good cast of young actors who lead the movie very well and you can easily bond with these characters they portray.Iv'e given this movie only a 7 because with all its positive ingredients and an interesting plot line it still lacks something that i can't put my finger on.With that aside its still a must see for any science fiction fan.