THIS IS NOT A GAME.
Years into the future, after an alien attack on Earth that left millions dead, young Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is among the bright teenagers recruited to fight a decisive, future war. This adaptation of the classic novel suffers from the same problems as The Host and After Earth, two other teen-targeted sci-fi movies released the same year. Innovative ideas at the core, but poorly executed, resulting in a humorless adventure where we don’t care that much about the protagonist. Major liability here: the war games look dazzling, but are virtually incomprehensible.
2013-U.S. 114 min. Color. Widescreen. Written and directed by Gavin Hood. Novel: Orson Scott Card. Cast: Asa Butterfield (Ender Wiggin), Harrison Ford (Graff), Hailee Steinfeld (Petra Arkanian), Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis.
