Children at war

Rating: Null/10 (20 November 2013)

One movie about children at war that immediately comes to mind is WarGames (1983), though it is not quite the same as Ender's. With Ally Sheedy and Matthew Broderick still as teenagers, the movie tackled the hot topic of the second half of the last century – threat of global nuclear war. The iconic idea is: the only way to win is not to play. Coming from the same decade, the "Ender" series of science fiction is much more futuristic. This movie, however, is the first time the story is rendered visual on the silver screen.
In a way, the plot is not unlike that in the war genre of "The dirty dozen", with the first part of the movie devoted to training of the soldiers and the second part depicting the real thing. The difference is that these soldiers are children and the enemy is non-human, insect like aliens.
Additional spoiler warning!
The movie ends with two twists which are not exactly earth-shattering as most in the audience would have seen them coming. The first is that the climatic confrontation ended before it even started – the final test of the training was actually the real thing. The second is a humanistic appeal – we destroy another species claiming that this is essential to our own survival. How much of this is true?
Regrettably, I did not watch Martin Scorsese's "Hugo", but after watching him in the titular role in "Ender's game", I can believe the praises heaped on him for that movie. Two talented young ladies have lesser roles and can arguably said to be underused. One is Abigail Breslin, so unforgettable from "Little Miss Sunshine", now grown into a very attractive young lady, playing Ender's older sister. Equally unforgettable, from the Coen brothers' "True grit", is Hailee Steinfeld playing Ender's most trusted fighting companion, with just the tiniest trace of romantic inclination.
The set pieces are fantastic and, thank heavens, not in 3D.