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Rating: 3 out of 5
Intergalactic war is a fascinating concept in the science fiction genre. War among different species, where humanity is on the brink of destruction, and finds a way to fight back. I love it for the advanced weaponry, the stories told, and the heroes created. There are many examples worldwide of this genre. My personal favorite, even though it is a game, is Halo. Halo is the shit, and I could play that game for hours. It is one example of an Intergalactic war. Hell, even the Predator series is like a skirmish, since it pits two species against each other. I diverged on the topic.
I brought up the intergalactic war because I watched Ender’s Game. I watched it a few times before reading the book. Everyone should read the book because there is way more in it. The character development and Ender’s inner thoughts are worth exploring. Mostly, Ender’s journey from being a genius cadet to a full-on supervisor of humanity’s military, fighting back against the bugs, is really terrifying to read. The kid is only like 12 or 13 in the book. The book, written by Orson Scott Card and published in 1985, is set in the distant future, where humanity is at war with an alien species called the buggers. To prepare for a third invasion, Earth’s military recruits young kids, including Ender Wiggin, to train as elite soldiers. The kids go through intense strategic and leadership training by playing a type of war game in zero gravity. The book has been praised and awarded many accolades, and is one of the primary books the US military reads.
This brings me to the 2013 film, written and directed by Gavin Hood and based on the book. The film is a mediocre adaptation of the book. The film is set in the future, where humanity is preparing to launch an all-out assault on the home world of an alien race called Formics that have twice attacked Earth and killed millions. The last Formic assault was stopped by the legendary Mazer Racham, played by a tattooed face Ben Kingsley. Mazer crashed his ship into the Formic queenship over 50 years ago. Earth has been preparing for the past five decades for its counterattack.
The film introduces us to Cadet Anderw “Ender” Wiggins, played by Asa Butterfield. The first half of the film deals with Ender and his time at Battle School. Ender is considered a “third” and is a rare exception to Earth’s two-kid policy. Ender recently had his I.F. removed, but he is considered a certified prodigy and genius. During his time in school, he catches the attention of Colonel Hyrum Graff, played by Harrison Ford, and Major Gwen Anderson, played by Viola Davis, because his simulated space combat scores are off the charts. He is recruited for the legendary Battle School. At Battle School, Ender is placed with other cadets his age but assigned to different units or squads that play training games in a zero-gravity “Battle Room.” Graff assigns Ender to the Salamander Army under the tight-ass Bonzo Madrid, who wants to win at all costs and doesn’t take shit from any of his subordinates. Ender also befriends Petra Arkanian, played by Hailee Steinfeld, who teaches him the ropes of the Battle Room. During one training game, Ender disregards Bonzo’s orders to participate and helps his team win.
Graff promotes Ender to lead his own squad, and Ender becomes a BEAST at the game, defeating them all in his wake. He even defeats two teams at once with his insane battle strategies. After Bonzo tried to attack him, and after a brief scuffle, Bonzo ended up hitting his head and sustaining a life-threatening injury. This causes Ender to go into depression and quit Battle School, but Graff has his sister tell him to come back.
That is the first half of the film. It was decent at setting up some of the primary situations that Ender was going to go through, but it really didn’t get deep emotionally. It was a breeze for Ender to do Battle School. He did what 2 matches and played a freaky science game that messed up his head. The film really showed that, even though Ender was stressed, he wasn’t completely losing it while on top of the leaderboard. There was a lot to be desired from the first half.
The second half of the film makes up for the first, but even it has many plot holes. Ender is taken by Graff to humanity’s forward base. Ender meets up with Rackham, who is still alive, and explains how the Formics share a hive-mind mentality that he exploited in the heat of battle. Ender is tasked with playing simulation games with some of his former squad members. Rackham explains that he has designed each simulation to become increasingly more complex. We see that in some simulations, Ender and his crew dominate at the beginning, but as time progresses, he starts losing many ships. After disastrous simulations, Rackham berates him and states that during the final test, he will need to make the ultimate sacrifice to win.
The highlight of this film was the “final” test. Graff explains that the final test will be monitored by the head fleet commanders. In the simulation, Ender finds his fleet over the Formic home world facing a massing fleet. Dude’s fleet is severely outnumbered. Remembering Rackham’s advice, Ender goes all out in the battle by sacrificing many of his fleet to protect the primary weapon. Having a single moment, Ender orders his main cannon to fire, which destroys the Formic home world. When the simulation ends, and Ender thinks he has passed the final test, the commanders reveal that it wasn’t a game but a real battle. Ender comes to realize he had been tricked into annihilating an alien race. Ender is angered that he has been tricked and is gripped by grief.
The second highlight of this film was the special effects and CGI. They are a little dated right now, but at the time, they were cool to look at. After reading the book and rewatching this film, it helped with the visualization. The training scenes at the battle school were nice and fun to watch. I liked the part where Ender floated in and started blasting after people thought he was frozen.
As for the story, it follows the book around 50%. The film leaves a lot to be desired. One of the main items missing is Ender’s relationship with his siblings and how his siblings plan to do things from Earth. Ender’s brother is insane and has a fascinating story. What is truly missing from this film is Ender’s mindset. In the book, dude really has a hard time. He is depressed most of the time, but the battle school part is way more in-depth and thrilling. Now that I think about it, when Ender meets Rackham, that first interaction was intense. The film missed out on the simulation that Ender did with his team. Some of the members of his team had a nervous breakdown.
For the performances, Asa Butterfield as Ender Wiggin did an outstanding job. He showed Ender Wiggin as he should be within this film. He showed the hardships Ender went through and his mental state. Asa was a perfect choice who really brought this character to life. Harrison Ford as Colonel Hyrum Graff was good, but in the book, he was colder. Ford always has a presence about him where he commands the screen. I liked Hailee Steinfeld as Petra Arkanian. Steinfeld was the friend that Ender needed to lean on. I wish the film had shown more of her character. Finally, Viola Davis as Major Gwen Anderson was that strong black woman who told it how it was to Graff. Even though the character was changed, Davis brought her stern look and care for Ender with her.
This film is a decent adaptation of the book. It does leave out a lot of story, but it does try to capture what the main character is going through. The film managed to show the battle school and the battle simulations, which take up around 50% of the entire book. The special effects were strong, fun to watch, and helped give a sense of what was going on. The acting was strong, especially from Butterfield and Ford. Read the book first and then watch this movie. You will not be disappointed.
