Ender's Game: a Truth Universally Acknowledged

Dear Readers,

Ender’s Game... fantastic book... new movie... of course I had to have my say on the topic.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that no movie is ever as good as the book that it was based upon.  This is true of good book to movie transitions like Lord of the Rings, and terrible ones like the Twilight series.  No matter how good the movie is, the book was always better.  For those of us who like to read then, we much resign ourselves to the fact that the story will love will always be abridged, twisted, or mangled in some way to fit up on the big screen.  The problem is that film can never take the same amount of time, or allow the viewer the same amount of insight into the minds and motives of the characters that a book can.  Ender’s Game, the recent film based on the Orson Scott Card novel of the same name, is no exception to this rule.

This does not, however, mean that Ender’s Game is a bad movie.  While the movie struggled with pacing in parts, the characters were well developed and relatable.  While the viewer does not get to know all Ender’s friends very well, there are several who are well developed and likeable.  Both Bean and Petra are played very well, and their relationship with Ender is handled with depth and charm.  Ender’s “enemies” are even more powerfully developed, from Colonel Graff (played by Harrison Ford) whose desire to save humanity has caused him to dehumanize the children he is supposed to be teaching, to the bully Bonzo Madrid, whose antagonism toward Ender is rooted in a lack of self confidence and desire to prove himself a capable commander.  Asa Butterfield’s performance as Ender drew the whole film together, the young actor managing to unite the child’s desire to love and be loved with the maturity of a genius commander placed in a highly stressful situation.  The balance he draws between the disturbingly violent part of Ender’s personality, and his compassion for others really helps to bring the character to life.

Visually, the movie was stunning.  The filmmakers resisted the temptation to use the movie as an excuse for the effects, and allowed the story to drive the plot rather than the next cool image.  That being said, there was no shortage of cool images in this movie; from the zero gravity battle room to the final battles in space, the use of CGI and other visual effects was both subtle and powerful.

Most of the complaints that I have heard from people who read the book focus on the trivialities of interpretation.  The use of the term “buggers” for example, was apparently deemed to vulgar for a children’s movie, the term “formics” being used instead (those of you who paid close attention reading the book know that this is the scientific term used for the buggers, not just a random term that some Hollywood script writer came up with).  The movie also introduced a pseudo-romance between Ender and Petra, which was not entirely unexpected, given the decision to age the characters for the movie, but slightly disappointing non the less.  One of the motivations behind the decision seems to have been to provide Ender with chance to display his more compassionate side.  The battleschool is designed to bring out the commander in Ender, and many of the techniques used help him develop the cruel and hateful side of his nature.  To counteract that  and to keep the character both human and likeable, one has to introduce the more personal and relational side of Ender.  Because of the limited time and scope that film allows, instead of showing Ender’s relationship with his friends and army, the movie focuses all that emotion into two critical relationships, his friendship with Bean and his friendship/romance with Petra.  I may not like it, but I can understand why they chose to put it in.

While a lot of people seem to be complaining about trivialities, very few people seem to notice that there was a very critical aspect of the book that was deliberately ignored in the movie.  Ender’s view of himself is as a synthesis of his two siblings, hatred and violence from his older brother Peter, and compassion from his sister Valentine.  Because these two played such a critical role in Ender’s view of himself, the book draws parallels between what Ender is learning at battleschool, and the activities of his sibling back on earth.  While Ender is training for interspecies war, his siblings are manipulating the volatile political situation on earth in an attempt to gain power and prevent war.  This manipulation takes the form of internet dialogue between “Demosthenes” and “Locke,” alter-egos of Valentine and Peter who gain the respectively the support of the general masses and the support of the academia in their discussion of the gravity of Earth’s political climate.  When intercontinental war breaks out after Ender’s defeat of the buggers, it is Peter/Locke’s diplomatic solution that saves millions of lives, creating an interesting contrast to Ender, whose military stratagems killed billions.  This creates a fascinating dichotomy between Ender, the naturally more compassionate and loving person, who is forced to become a mass murderer, and Peter, who is probably a psychopath, but whose quest for power saves lives and earns him the respect of the world.  There really was not time to fit this political aspect into the film, and I understand why it was left out.  It bothers me, however, that most people are more upset by the “buggers”/ “formics” change than by the fact that such a hugely critical aspect to the development of Ender as a character was deliberately left out.  It says something about us as reader and as viewers that we remember every detail of the interplanetary warfare aspect of a book, but the moral complexities of the situation, and the way in which that war affected the political climate is reduced to “that boring stuff that happened on earth.”  Readers and viewers expect to be entertained in the book or movie, and the only thing that is truly entertaining is the unreal or the exceptionally violent.  I think that is a pretty sad commentary on the status of the human race at this point in history (or at least those who read books and watch movies).  I realize I just went into a personal rant, and I apologize for that, but the complete lack of a sense of perspective that I have seen in people’s approach to Ender’s Game has been a bit frustrating.

Anyway… Ender’s Game was a very well made movie.  While the film struggled with pacing a bit, and while there were some deviations from the book that a die hard fan will find frustrating, the characters were well played and the graphics were amazing without being overwhelming.  I highly recommend everyone go to see the movie.  If you haven’t read the book, you can still enjoy the movie, and hopefully it will inspire you to pick up the book, which is excellent.  For those who have read and love the book, don’t stress the little things.  Enjoy the movie for what it is: an interpretation, and take the time to enjoy what was done well before you start freaking out about the little details they got wrong.  Everyone remember, “the enemy’s gate is down!”

Well, back to reality!

P.S. So I can check my stats and see that there are people all around the world reading these posts, but that doesn't give me any information about who you readers are and what you think of my work.  Please leave a comment letting me know what you think of my reviews, if you are a first time reader or if you have been following my work consistently.  I look forward to hearing from you all!