Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

jhalcollege The novel Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, may just be the best work of fiction ever produced. The motion picture on the other hand, does what it can do to translate a nearly unflimable movie.A lot of the other reviews do accurately capture the quality of the movie. The adaptation does remain very faithful to the book, unlike examples. (such as World War Z, The Bourne Identity, V for Vendetta). The things that they do change make a good deal of sense. Omitting Locke and Demosthenes, making all the characters older, and combining other characters (Crazy Tom, Fly Molo, and those guys are absorbed by Alai and Bernard) were all good decisions. The visuals do a heck of a job, and most of the performances are up to standard.However, while greatly capturing the plot, the film falls short in recreating the heart, but this is consequence of the nature of the novel itself. You see, the main character isn't so much Ender Wiggin as it is the mind of Ender Wiggin. The movie just isn't able to make the complete translation, and can be somewhat stale (somewhat analogous to Watchmen). In addition, iconic lines, such as "The enemies gate is down", are delivered with a certain staleness, and only seem to be there just to be there. The movie is indeed too short, and it would have been nice if they showed the passing of time (respects to other reviewers).If you've read the book, then this movie will be a decent 100 minutes of your time, and will bring back lots of great memories. If you haven't read the book (read it!), you're not missing too much.

invisibleunicornninja I read the book before seeing the movie, and this is one of the few movies based on a book that stays true to the novel its based off of. Plot - The problem with this movie is that it is too short. I know that not everything that was in the book can be in the movie, but a lot of what they did include was a bit rushed. This kinda makes that overlong boring action scene thing at the end even more annoying. Overall though, this movie retains most of the nuance and intelligence from the book and was extremely entertaining to watch. This movie has an extremely effective twist that is only ruined if you have read the book. Characters - The child actors are actually very good for the most part. Most of the characters are intelligent, making the story very enjoyable. The characters are interesting, though a few of them could've been better developed. Sights and Sounds - The cinematography in this movie is great, as well as the sound design. The effects are all pretty good, except for some dream/game sequences that were so bad that my DVD player automatically decided to skim through them (I didn't touch the remote, the player just skipped past those terrible sequences).Action - The action scenes in this movie are clever and entertaining. Overall, this is a very entertaining movie that I would highly recommend.

lemon_magic 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.

hurricane_san I've read the books years ago (and should have stopped at the first one, but that's beside the point.) The movie managed to show most of the key points of the story. The parts that, in my opinion, are the steps marking an evolution to the next level. This is impressive given the movie is not even two hours long, but of course there is a cost. The biggest reproach I have is the lack of build-up. Everything feels rushed. The genius of the book, beside the twist(s), is the psychological development of Ender, the manipulations he is the subject of, the monstrosity of the adults and of the other children and ultimately his own. Where is the cold revelation of a few hidden deaths ? Where are the mysteries surrounding a weird trainer, and the very smart reason this Mr Mysterious, once revealed, is not too old? All gone.On its purely technical qualities, the acting was good. Harrison Ford of course but also the children that I didn't find annoying like I usually do. The image and special effects were good and measured and the music from Steve Jablonsky was very enjoyable.In my opinion, the movie is probably not very good for whoever didn't read the book first. But for me, when all is said and done, it was a kind of lazy trip through the memory lane of one of the best book I've ever read.