Ender’s Game

Orson Scott Card wrote Ender’s Game in 1985 and it was pretty much an instant Sci Fi classic. It’s been a long time since I read the book, but the film seems pretty close to what I remember. The main difference being that Ender’s brother and sister have much smaller roles in the film than they did in the novel.

Ender’s Game is the story of a military academy which trains children to do battle using complex computer simulations. This is necessary because, well, I’m not sure why it’s necessary. Something about the youthful mind. At any rate our boy Ender seems to be a natural born military genius. In what is hinted at to be a matter of months-and what feels more like a matter of days-Ender goes from raw cadet to supreme commandeer of all military forces. The bulk of the film watches Ender and his team train, practice, train some more, practice some more, and so on.

Surprisingly, this is pretty gripping stuff. Mixed in with the battle techno babble and the teen angst are hints that there is more to this war than meets the eye. Oh yes, the War. Earth’s population is nearly destroyed by an alien race that dropped by to do a bit of colonizing. They were kicking earth butt until one lone fighter breaks through and turns the tide of the battle. Seems the aliens have a pretty serious weak spot.

I liked Ender’s Game.  It was a great looking film filled with solid special effects, good sounds and music, and good acting from Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, and Viola Davis.   The kids were good, too.

Since Ender’s Game is part of a series of books, it was no surprise that the film’s ending was open and ready for further films following the adventures of one Ender Wiggins.  If they are as good as this one, we should have years of quality sci fi ahead of us.

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