Beautiful and well acted, but oddly unengaging

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 2017)

I'll start out by admitting that I started Card's novel, but gave up after the first 100 pages or so because I just couldn't get into it. Nothing against OSC - I thought his novelization of "The Abyss" was wonderful - but the ideas and dialog left me cold.
Having admitted that, I will also admit to finding my reaction to this movie adaptation puzzling - based on the visuals and Asa Butterfield's amazing acting job as Ender Wiggins, I should have loved it. But my enthusiasm for "Ender's Game" was not unbounded, and I blame that on the same problems with the plot that I found in the novel, and on the fact that it was obvious that the film makers could only fit in a "sketch" of the full story into the movie.
For instance, I was never convinced that a pastime that was essentially "Zero Gee Laser Tag" would have all that much to do with massive star fleet battles. Yes, it was fun to watch, and yes, I could see Ender's tactics in the game foreshadowing his tactics in the final invasion - but it seemed like a contrivance. (Ender's interaction with the tablet game as a precursor to the true intent of the Formics was far more convincing). And the whole "newbie enters the Military academy" trope has been done to death already.
And also, the plot twist about the final training exercise - while it did shake things up, it was essentially "a dirty bit o' cheating" in my opinion, and left me completely unsatisfied. Just as Petra's role in the big battle was completely contrived - it was obvious that a voice command and an automated aiming system could have done her role far better. (Nothing against the actress, who was quite likable and sympathetic).
Probably the movie should have been expanded to two parts to let the plot development "breathe" and expand, but given what it cost to make and the flops of many of its expensive, high-tech contemporaries, I am sure the studio didn't dare. So it is what it is, and my reaction is what it is.
Worth watching if you really liked the visuals in bombs like "Valerian", "Jupiter Rising", or "John Carter" enough to overlook the writing problems. Harmless enough even if you didn't.