Enders Game missed The Game

Rating: 4/10 (5 November 2013)

The movie missed it on its own title--Game.
If you surveyed moviegoers that haven't read the book and asked them what The Game is I think that none would have hardly a clue.
The computer device each launchy was given to use in free-time had programmed "The Game" and it was so central throughout the whole book. The Formics (from afar) hacked into the central computer system via the ansible. The Formics knew that the humans were going to attack and that the humans were developing a boy human genius to win the final battle. The Formics communicated with Ender Wiggin through this device's game yet he didn't fully realize it until the end of the story. The communication was two-way. Ender Wiggin learned to love his own life and the lives of other beings. Likewise the Formics learned to love Ender Wiggin and love other humans through the struggles in The Game computer interface.
The movie barely mentioned this crucial interface--The Game.
After reading the book at least ten times since 1986, for me, as I've grown older the appeal of different themes has evolved and kept me re-reading the book. For instance, the theme that the underdog can win (in the battle room) through cleverness and strategy. Or the theme that bullying (or bullies) have to be countered and confronted and not ignored especially by those who are thoughtful, shy and introverted.
But the theme that has most often appealed to me is that the big picture of one's destiny is not necessarily framed by one's obvious immediate circumstance which often is full of pain and loss. Rather, the theme suggests a prophetic direction (provoked and guided by an unseen hand) that hardly can be altered. The final climax of this theme is achieved through The Game interface.
And this was missed in the movie. I am so sorry it was.