Wasted potential

Rating: 1/10 (5 August 2015)

Everyone knows that its very rare for a movie to surpass its book. I was very hesitant to see the movie since I'm such a huge fan of the book/series, but I caved and (not surprisingly) was very disappointed! The book gives the movie a lot of material to work with, but the entire thing felt (and was) rushed and skipped over a lot (or briefly touched on the subject). Here's the list: 1. Casting..All of the soldiers/students are in their teenage years! If "I Declare War" can cast kids in a military-esque movie, why couldn't this movie!? Ender is supposed to be physically less than everyone else. It takes away the sympathy you feel for him in the book. This immediately takes you out of the world that Orson Scott Card created. Major Anderson is played by Viola Davis, a woman. This is a very minor detail, but I don't see the big deal in casting a male, since the source material is a man. His brother, Peter and his sister Valentine are pretty much non-players in the movie (more on this later). Pretty much everyone was miscast besides Colonel Graff (played by Harrison Ford) and I'm neutral about Mazer Rackham (played by Ben Kingsley) and Petra (played by Hallie Standfeld, I know that's not her last name spelled correctly) Even the Bonzo character makes Ender look enormous! 2. Story/Pacing..as I mentioned, the whole movie seemed like a rushed and compressed version of the book. Ideally, they could've made this into a 2-part series, with the ending of 1, when he graduates. Battle School, his relationships w/Peter (especially), Graff, Valentine, Bonzo, his army and friends, other armies/students are all short lived when a huge chunk of the story is exactly about those relationships. Ender is very gifted, but an outcast, physically and mentally bullied by others. Even his interaction with The Game is hit/miss.
This could've been a great movie that squandered the source material (for whatever reason(s)). I just hope future movies will take note when dealing with such a highly loved source material.