Pass the Popcorn review

Rating: 7/10 (3 November 2013)

Ender's Game is a movie based on the novel of the same name, written in 1985 by Orson Scott Card, which is supposed to be extremely popular, but I hadn't heard of it until I saw the trailer for the movie – and therefore, I didn't manage to read the novel. Many say the movie is awful, in comparison to the novel, and are also boycotting it because of Orson Scott Card's opposition to gay marriage, and homosexuality in general. I didn't know about this controversy either, but it's obviously a difficult issue to resolve: can we separate the author from its work? And since the movie isn't exactly/only Card's work, should we boycott it? And since nobody seems to have boycotted the books, wouldn't boycotting the movie be hypocritical? Finally, since the movie doesn't deal with homosexuality at all, wouldn't the boycott be pointless? I'm absolutely for gay rights and marriage, but I don't think it's reasonable to boycott this movie.
In the future, Earth was attacked by an alien race known as Formics, and it was saved only thanks to the International Fleet Commander, Mazer Rackham's sacrifice during battle. After the aliens were driven away, the International Military started training the best children on the planet for the (supposed) next Formic attack. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is recruited, one evening, by the prestigious Battle School, where he starts training with other children and young adults, under the ever-watching eyes of Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and Major Gwen Anderson (Viola Davis), a gentle soul who seems to be the only person to consider the recruits what they are – just children.
I should start by saying that the trailer for this movie is one of the worst ever: it makes you want to just skip this movie, and it makes the movie itself look awful and boring. The only positive thing it does to you is that, when you actually see the movie, you're pleasantly surprised. Ender's Game deals with tough topics, like violence, relationships among people, war and human psychology. Ender doesn't think it makes any sense to attack the Formics if they are not attacking Earth, and yet keeps on kicking people after he's won the fight with them and they are just lying on the floor – 'to prevent them from attacking again'. He's constantly reminded of this contradiction by the ruthless Colonel Graff and often fights him because of his views on war. The movie has managed to explore this topic in a very good way, which should be praised: it's not just another pointless Sci-Fi, and it's not for children (only).
The main character is played by Asa Butterfield, whom you might remember as the character Hugo in the extremely successful movie of the same name. Here, he delivers another great performance and carries the whole story masterfully. Harrison Ford is a very good sometimes-antagonist, and can be truly difficult to take sides when his and Asa's characters fight. It's also interesting to get Viola Davis' character's view on the whole thing – as I said before, she sees the recruits as just children who can't psychologically take the war, and often confronts Colonel Graff about this. The CGI is excellent in this movie, but the thing that I liked the most is that the movie isn't CGI-focused. Most of it happens inside a space ship, and the few views of space and Earth that we get are wonderful. The only downside of the movie happens in the end, but there's no point in spoiling that. All in all, Ender's Game is a movie that will satisfy your need for a smart Sci-Fi, if you decide to see it.
Rating: 7/10 Read more at http://passpopcorn.com/