Ender's Game

Ender's Game

Rated PG-13 and Released in Grand Rapids 11/1/13

Reviewed 11/4/13 at Celebration North in Grand Rapids, MI

with Gary and friends Ben & Jackie

2 out of 5 Js in QUIET Rating System

We all didn't expect this sci-fi adventure to be so geared towards tweens. I think reading the book would have probably added some filler that we weren't privy to. Ben thought Harrison Ford looked like he was walking around with Depends on. That is entirely possible. Star power he adds, but you still have to have a good movie and regretfully this fell short.

Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is the young prodigy that two military leaders Colonel Hyrum Graff (Ford) and Major Gwen Anderson (Viola Davis) are beginning to believe is the "one". The "one" is the savior to the human race. There have been many young people before Ender and each has failed to emerge as the one to be successful. Their expectations are high with Ender. After successfully completing the initial training, Ender is whisked away from his family to space station training with other youth trainees all for the same purpose. Set in the future, Earth has been targeted by an alien race. The human army, led by legendary Mazer Rackhm (Ben Kingsley), was able to defeat the invading creatures some 40 years earlier, but barely. This uncommunicative alien race has been standing by on a nearby planet for all this time since - to do what? While the military believes they are going to attack us again, they want to be proactive and annihilate the enemy before Earth is targeted again. The adult leaders believe the kids are the answer because of their adeptness to video games and they believe that transcends well into outer space fighting. If only that was true! We would have a world full of generals. Ender is a smart youthful guy, but not that large in stature and he has his own way of doing things. He is finding it difficult to gain the respect of his peers in order to emerge as the leader that Graff desires. Something is troubling Ender as well. He is not convinced of what he is being told, but there is some trickery that ensures the plan is followed anyway. And is it a success? Never fear Ender's Game is left with the option of a sequel to follow. Let's hope the second is much better, or  better yet we can hope the thoughts of a sequel are quickly forgotten.

QUIET Rating system: 2 Js

Quality: JJ

Understood story:  JJj

Interest: JJ

Entertainment:  JJ

Time:  Jj