The worst adaptation I've ever seen.

Rating: 2/10 (25 April 2014)

So, to begin, I've read Ender's Game. I have also read the sequel, and I'm working on the third one. I know this was released a while ago, but I can remember every error in this film vividly. First off, the pacing is terrible. I know the book is long, but so is Harry Potter. The acting was terrible. I absolutely love Asa Butterfield and I know he tried very hard, but he was not the Ender I know. Ender is not a child with a mind of an adult. He is a gifted child. Card wrote himself (I believe in his preface) that the people he's talking about are special, gifted children. They are not children with the minds of adults. I can guarantee you that is not what gifted is. Maybe I missed somewhere where Card says "Ender is a child with the mind of an adult" but I don't think he did. (I read the book a long time ago, so correct me if I'm wrong.)
Also, Abigail Breslin and Moises Arias should not have been in this movie. I adore Hailee Steinfeld, although the training scene where she fights with Ender is kind of funny because Asa is so tiny.
Now, of course, everyone has a different interpretation of a book. Maybe my interpretation was vastly different than the directors. The setting was good. I liked the way the battle rooms were portrayed. I would have been interested to see more of Ender's video game throughout the film, because that might have helped out with the crappy character development.
Asa did an okay job. I know he was probably told to act like an adult. He just seemed really angry throughout the whole movie. When I read the book, I definitely imagined him as at first quiet, and someone who feels the need to keep their emotions under control, and eventually someone who has the level-headedness and creativity that's needed to be a leader. I would have liked to see Ender struggle with that more. Especially because his brother was so mean to him, and because he was a Third. Asa did okay with some aspects of that. Maybe Asa was just kind of a different actor than the one needed for Ender, because he just doesn't take on the intuitive and introspective attitude that I believe Ender had.
So basically, the pacing was absolutely horrible; way too fast. The setting was okay. The acting was, say, 80% terrible. The character development was bad. I hope one day someone somehow remakes this movie, or something.
Also, I know I emphasized that Ender is not an adult in a child's body, but in my opinion Ender's Game is a book for adults. Maybe I'm just being pretentious, but there are definitely parts of Ender that very young people, like the ones this movie seemed to be tailored to, wouldn't get.
I'm sorry this review is so critical, but I was extremely disappointed in this movie.