'Ender' wins (mostly)

Rating: 7/10 (10 June 2014)

I've tried to read the novel a couple of times over the years, but aborted each time because I found Ender and his fellow Village of the Damned cadets insufferable and creepy. I don't know that the script here really attempts to change that, but the performances naturally soften that edge and make them more palatable.
It's an impressive film visually, I really liked Steve Jablonsky's score, and as mentioned the cast really help to humanize their otherwise cold characters. Amazingly the twists remained unknown to me despite the book's age and popularity, though the second one felt inevitable in one form or another. I can't say I agree with it using real world logic, but thematically within the world of a movie it works well enough. It certainly rains on the all the fireworks, but that's the point I suppose.