Saw Enders Game on Saturday with my Uncle; I read the original book and several others in the series when I was a kid, and am a fan of the story (short caveat, there). Asa Butterfield (from The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) was a great choice to play Ender; the rest of the casting was mostly well handled. Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley both give solid performances, but unfortunately, they fall victim to the movies primary weakness: editing. The SFX are spectacular; some of the best Ive ever seen, and the main plot is as great as it originally was. Except... everything is forced through so quickly; the fantastic SFX shots blow by in seconds, and we dont get a chance to appreciate the scope and scale of whats happening. The plot is missing crucial development elements due to cut after cut. The ending is rushed; even the climactic battle is squeezed into just a few minutes. There was a lot of material in the book, and not all of it needed to stay, but they cut so much that it affected the flow of the story and the overall pacing. If this had been 2:45 long instead of 1:54, it could have been as epic as it deserved to be. But, hey. Studios have to squeeze in as many showings as possible, right? Its not like if you make a better movie, it will make more money... +1 for acting, +1 for plot, +1 for SFX/cinematography; -2 for chopping the movie nearly in half, missing key character development. 6/10.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 04:39:43 +0000
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