Better than a lot of the reviews

Rating: 8/10 (4 November 2013)

It's odd to me that "Ender's Game" is getting a bad wrap overall from the reviewers and "Gravity" is just so "wonderful". That's because Ender's Game is a much more engaging and visceral story with better character development, while Gravity relies on special effects and characters about as complicated as those in "Transformers".
This film gets off on the right foot. The protagonist is a lanky tween, (played by Aas Butterfield, who is established quickly. He's a prodigy, sensitive, an underdog who must balance personal issues with a greater responsibility. He's selected to lead against an alien race who once threatened our existence. You might ask where have we seen this before? Hey, at least it's not a prequel, sequel, or remake. And let me tell you something else, you haven't seen earth threatened quite like this.
I will say that along the way it gets a little silly. Ender goes into training and the developments seem generic and the games they play for training are pretty confusing. Some of the better moments are borrowed from "A Dirty Dozen" and some others seem tailored for children.. That said, this isn't a film for kids. The overall themes here are harsh, even cynical; however, this lends to a more interesting formula than your standard good guy, bad guy, movie.
Harrison Ford is powerful as a the captain of this mission to save humanity at any cost. His philosophy is cold, direct, and dangerous. By contrast, our hero is different, innocent, talented, and closer to the delicacy of life. And so there is a gigantic contrast between the two characters and a greater one with the final solution.
Despite looking forward to this movie, I almost didn't see this with negative reviews piling in and the recent homophobic rant by the author. However, I was glad I gave it the benefit of the doubt. You might too.