City of Ember
Tags: psychedelic, depressing, dark, atmospheric, sci-fi

Plot synopsis:
In the midst of an unspecified catastrophe, an underground city is constructed to shelter a large group of survivors, with secret instructions to future generations in a small box timed to open 200 years later. This box is entrusted to the mayor of the City of Ember. Each mayor, in turn, passes the box on to his or her successor. Over time, the significance of the box is forgotten, and the succession is broken when the seventh mayor dies before revealing the importance of the box. The box opens at the allotted time, but goes unnoticed. 41 years after the box opens, Ember's electric generator begins to fail, and the reserves of canned goods and light bulbs are depleted.
At a rite of passage for all graduating students, Mayor Cole (Bill Murray) stands before the students as they choose their occupations by lottery. Protagonist Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan), who dreams of becoming a messenger, is assigned "Pipeworks Laborer" under the technician Sul (Martin Landau), and her classmate Doon Horrow (Harry Treadaway), the son of Loris 'Barrow' Harrow (Tim Robbins), is assigned to be a "Messenger"; whereupon the two secretly exchange assignments. At home, Lina finds the timed box, and enlists Doon's help to decipher its contents. Gradually, they learn that the document is a set of instructions toward an exit from the city; and later discover that Mayor Cole has been hoarding canned food in a secret vault. When they report the theft, they are arrested and the mayor attempts to take the box from Lina; but a blackout allows Lina to escape. Now fugitives from the mayor's police, the pair obtain Poppy (Amy Quinn and Catherine Quinn), Lina's 4 year old sister, and escape with the help of Sul, along a subterranean river. Meanwhile, the Mayor turns against his accomplice Looper, and locks himself in his vault, only to be devoured by a gigantic mole. Lina, Doon, and Poppy reach the surface, where they witness the sunrise; and later tie a message of their discovery to a rock and drop it into the city, where it is found by Loris.

Review: It hasn't had an easy launch either because it's been competing with High School Musical 3, when i went to see it the cinema was empty apart from me because everyone else had gone to see a certain other film.It wasn't great and i am certain that if i had read the book i would have hated it because the characters were not brilliantly written and it was a messy mix of excellent fantasy sci-fi with the appropriate special effects and corny American generic children's movie.
It's a great kid's adventure, lots of mystery and action, good character development, and plenty of cool settings.Bill Murray and Tim Robbins do a fine job in their roles, but they are mostly supporting cast.
In fact, this book could be a metaphor for metaphors -- there are things below the surface that exist whether we acknowledge them or not; it is our job to find the tools to excavate the "deeper" level of what exists for others only on the surface.Having sacrificed the novel's intellectual depth, the film version does a great disservice to the dedicated reader: we are given special effects that defy logic and re-focus the story unnaturally and unnecessarily; there are included scenes of hyped-up action they are neither satisfying nor helpful with advancing the plot; we lose some of the intricate details of character development; there's an unnecessary inclusion of giant scary creatures that offer distracting (and bizarre) thrills; and the mystery of what Ember is is destroyed in the first minute of narration.The design of the film is great, but as in design, the beauty is found in the details.
Nonetheless, the visuals and acting were fine and supporting performances by the always-goofy Bill Murray and Tim Robbins were somewhat entertaining.The most intriguing actor, to me, was Saoirse Ronan, as "Lina Mayfleet." At first she minded me a bit of Peggy Ann Garner in "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn," but maybe two years older.
She looks like she's on her way to a good career.Her counterpart, the male teen "Doon Harrow," was played nicely by Harry Treadaway.Although it's a nice, safe family film, I think a lot of kids will be bored by the time anything happens, and adults will be so-so on it.
As a result I found City of Ember to be a gratifying and sensually enticing experience with brilliant performances, an endlessly captivating story and pace, and a great mix of fantastical environments and characters which pave way for subtext that is grounded in simple allegory of our own, current world.
In this respect, City of Ember is a solid family film that most audiences should enjoy regardless of age, gender or anything else; good entertainment, and a wonderful story to remember at that.Taking place almost exclusively within the confines of Ember, Gil Kenan here presents us with a vision of a dystopian future, where mankind has been forced to live underground in order to survive.
However, in a time of desperation, two citizens Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) and Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) go on their own quest to try and find an exit from the underground city, which doesn't go down well with gluttonous Mayor Cole (Bill Murray) who just wants his next meal in peace.What follows from here is a story that isn't entirely unfamiliar (in fact, it's dangerously close to this year's WALL-E), and yet director Gil Kenan manages to take the script and turn it into his own compelling take on a tried and trusted concept.
Murray, although arguably underused as far as his talents go, does well to establish a character that nobody is necessarily going to warm to, and uses whatever screen time he has adequately to further the movie on and to back up his lead performers.In the end however, all these elements simply come together to create one thing; an adventure.
With stunning visuals that complement the script's wonderful sense of imagination, fitting performances, and a very memorable, intelligent and socially relevant story, City of Ember is a fantastic slice of entertainment for all the family to enjoy.A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net).
"City of Ember", director Gil Kenan's follow up to his horror-lite for preteens "Monster House", is a fun ride that's well worth the admission price if only for the superb production design and the likable leads.Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) are two of the inhabitants of the City of Ember - an underground city designed to house humans for two centuries as an unspecified disaster takes place on the surface.
But as the 200 years have passed, the generator that powers the city gradually falters, causing more frequent blackouts and scarce provisions.When no one would listen to them, especially the city mayor - Mayor Cole (the effective yet underused Bill Murray) - it then becomes up to Lina and Doon to find the exit that leads to the surface, which is infinitely easier in theory than in practice, considering the plethora of puzzles and riddles they would have to solve.Without having read the film's source material - Jeanne Duprau's novel - there's no way I can say if the script holds up to the narrative of its literary counterpart, but here's where the film mainly falters.
And for a film lacking impressive turns from its more mature and established actors (including Tim Robbins as Doon's father), upcoming stars Ronan and Treadaway's animated performances save the day, right from a sweeping introduction of the claustrophobic city to a touching finale that finally affirms the characters' quest for light amidst the darkness..
The movie does deliver some intrigue and some compelling performances (not to mention some mailed-in ones), but huge lapses in logic that might be detected even by the youngest audience member prevent it from being the heart-stopping classic it wants to be.Some 200 years ago, life on Earth was dying, and in its waning moments great physicists, inventors, and architects designed and built a huge underground city powered by a gigantic generator.
So here we are, 200 years down the road, and the lights in Ember flicker occasionally, sometimes more than occasionally, and it's apparent to a few that the generator's days are numbered.Our story focuses on two children, Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (Harry Treadway).
Naturally, they run into complications with Doon's father (Tim Robbins) and the current mayor (Bill Murray), and just as naturally they're eventually pursued by people who'd just as soon no one ever figured out how to leave the dark city.For the most part, the casting is on target; Ronan seems a lot more engaging and appealing here than she did just last year in Atonement, and Treadway, although looking like a refugee from High School Musical, is just as impressive.
The film tells the story of an unspecified moment in the future of humankind, where a few hundred people move underground and construct a subterranean city and after a while, their power supply is beginning to fail and two young children must seek the way back to the surface, which, for some reason, is forbidden.It's based on a book by Jeanne Duprau, and while I have not actually read it myself, I can tell there was a lot of imperative material left out when they adapted its content into a script, resulting in many glaring plot holes and enormous questions that do not get answered for us at any moment during the film's running time, which is considerably longer than it needs to be.According to one of my peers, in the book, it describes that humankind becomes locked in an intercontinental war and is quickly wiping out all life on the planet.
So the filmmakers accomplished their task at making a convincing looking, end-of-the-world city.What they did not succeed in was using this set and its characters to keep us entertained or even generally interested.
These are 8 year old - and they got the fact that the book was lost in the movie - that all the bells and whistles and special effects were no replacement for an actual story.I was pleased to read that they lost money in making this film - good to see Karma can, and will get you when you are greedy and without substance.Tom Hanks should be ashamed of himself..
You can't make a movie with a good setting alone, and the flaws are all too apparent once you begin watching.Attempts to make Bill Murray's comedy mayor into some kind of villain are undone from the outset by Murray's comic acting, while further attempts to bring gravitas via the casting of experienced actors like Tim Robbins and Toby Jones are similarly misplaced.
There's absolutely nothing new here.My only comments are that Saoirse Ronan is a very poor and overrated actress, limited to a single expression for a great deal of the time, and that the film's sole saving grace is the presence of old-timer Martin Landau, who is by far the best thing in it..
I think that large parts of this movie (i haven't read the book) is a hit at modern politics and are squarly aimed at adults.It is cynical and depressing, without being gory, and paints a very complelling setting of people obediently keeping traditions even when their world is coming to bits.It falls flat in that it leaves HUGE holes in the story on screen, and despite bringing up some deep ideas on society vs the individual as the crux of the film, it stops short of putting flesh on the ideas.Might be a certification thing.Good looking film.
The start of the movie is perfectly fine, we're given a lot of back-story about how Ember came to be, and how a box was passed down from generation of mayor to the next (very well filmed scene).
But the set designs are the real star, not since Del Toro have I seen sets to beautiful.Overall City of Ember is a movie that I did really enjoy, and would happily watch again.
This infamous box office failure is one of those films I never fancied and after finally giving it a chance I understand why.With a fantastic cast including Bill Murray, Tim Robbins and Saoirse Ronan this family friendly adventure tale tells the story of an underground society governed my a selfish greedy Mayor who is hiding several truths from his people.Bill Murray feels wasted, considering he's the movies antagonist he is barely present and when he is it feels like the role could have been given to anybody.Ronan is great as always the same as Robbins, but a stellar cast couldn't save City Of Ember.It's not that it's a bad film, it's just too far from being a good one.
The story is played out poorly, it all looks kind of hokey and in my opinion it needed to be longer.City Of Ember was a huge commerical bust and lost its studio a fair few pennies, I'm sure that the fans of the book were not happy either.The Good:Very impressive castThe Bad:Looks worse than it shouldMurray is wastedThings I Learnt From This Movie:I want a giant moth.
Jobs are assigned randomly, when people went underground it seems the Asians and Latinos were left out but a few black people were let in just to keep up the diversity of the cast.Two teenagers, Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) and Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) who have been given newly assigned roles discover a possible route out of this dark, corrupt, dying pit.
The fat mayor is a clue that all is not well, a bit like Animal Farm.The second half then starts to resemble a half baked adventure film as the two teens start to follow clues laid down 200 years earlier by the builders of the new city and the climax is borrowed from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom but with some ropy CGI.The film was rather disappointing, I think the the source material was gutted to make a generic family action film..
Instead of criticizing how the movie doesn't follow the book as much as you believe it should, you should just enjoy the film for what it is and then you can re-read with new visuals to think of!.
If H.P. Lovecraft, Guillermo Del Toro, and Tim Burton all sat down, had a few beers and wrote a post apocalyptic children's story book, it would look something like City Of Ember, a magnificent, underrated dystopian fable.
Tim Robbins did good and Bill Murray is great as the arrogant, lazy, corrupt mayor.This movie has more special-effects than I thought it would have.
You could tell there was a lot of thought that went into making the set feel lived-in (it reminded me a good bit of the sets used in the series Firefly.I plan to read the book and I expect it will be better than the movie.
And of course Bill Murray does a great job as the overweight and corrupt mayor of Ember.Anyway the movie is a good movie not only for acting and entertaining storyline but the message is very good and truly does capture how people can deny a problem that is right infront of their eyes and their believe that help would come when if you think about it there is no help unless you help yourself.Overall, this is a very good film and I recommend it for anyone who is in the mood for a good movie.
The first book in the series of four books is obviously a set up and the movie acts like this too, which is unfortunate.If you couldn't already tell, this film didn't make a lot of money in the box office.
UGH!Anyway, City of Ember brings back great costuming and set design aesthetic and is a huge step int he right direction for the future of fantasy and sci-fi film.
City of Ember, the film, has an entertaining story, a deluxe cast, fantastic production design, music and atmosphere, and it is certainly a good family movie.I expect, and it's understandable, that some changes are to be made to adapt any book to the big screen, as a book narrative and pace aren't always good for a film.
Well, the script does just the contrary, killing anything good that the story had for the sake of nothing, including unnecessary bizarre modifications and characters that add nothing to the story, and transform a multi-layered novel into a simplistic action/escape film.One of the most exciting things in the book is discovering the mystery as the same pace the main characters do: discovering that Ember is an underground city, discovering that the message in the box is from the Builders themselves, and so on.
One of the most remarkable exceptions is Martin Landau as Sul, who is great despite his character being very secondary and having barely any line in the film.Overall, this is an enjoyable movie, but has little to do with the original in message and meaning.
A perfect main character is very rare nowadays in novel adaptation to movie...For you who have read the book like me, prepare to be a little, OK maybe very disappointed by "Doon".
As the story unfolds and the scene is set, my attention was grabbed by the detail of the environments and the characters.This is a movie that provokes that same feeling of wonder, exploration and adventure that reminds my of classics like Goonies or Lord of the rings.The pacing is great and the story moves on at just the right pace although a part of me wishes that the film was longer so as to focus more on some of the other characters but this is a real, good quality rainy Sunday afternoon film.I gave it 8 out of 10, I was surprised that it has such a low average score on here.A equal of equal quality in which we discover more and hopefully see Bill Murray back would actually enrich this first movie and open it up even more..
Now it's well pass 200 years, the city is crumbling, supplies are dwindling, and no one knows that they're suppose to leave.Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) and Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) are two young people ready to pick jobs on Assignment Day. However they are sure that the generator is breaking down, and they must escape the City.
I have not read this book, but I read a lot, and something I've found to expect is: Books are 9 times out of 10 better than the film adaptations.My thoughts on the movie Fabulous work paid to the environments, sets, ambiance, all in all, the entire community and style of ember was very enthralling and interesting indeed.
As the film continued, too many things are introduced, too many story elements, characters and events are cramming together, and it just starts to feel like they are rushing things to get everything that made a good story in a book into a hour and a half movie.I find I am left far too curious about too many things that they didn't have time to properly explain or explore.
And the robots were weird.I would have liked to see the People of Ember emerging from the cave at the end of the credits.All and all it was a pretty good movie.
Lina (Saoirse Ronan) and Doon (Harry Treadaway) are graduating from school in the City of Ember, an underground world.
The book was damn nice and this movie ruins my entire good impression of CITY OF EMBER!.
City of Ember (2008): Dir: Gil Kenan / Cast: Harry Treadaway, Saoirse Ronan, Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau: Stunning futuristic adventure displays a decaying underground society.
Unlike the other people on the set the actors actually wanted to make a good film they really did, they acted perfectly the way their characters would have and should have i loved them, they deserve all the credits at the end heck make Harry Treadaway the new director, am i right?