Friday, November 1, 2013

Ender's Game



Ok, so just got back from the movie. Well not "just", I had to eat the burrito I picked up on the way, do some site admin stuff, etc. But I did see it today! So... thoughts.

Well I'll be honest, when I saw the ad trailers I was not impressed. The "DOOUUMMM! *image* DOOUMMMM!!! *image* DOOUUUMMMM!!! *dramatic image*" thing works for Batman, not so much for Orson Scott Card. I mean come on, it's a cerebral sci-fi masterpiece, not some adrenaline fueled action explosion. Not that I've read the book or anything. Cuz like books suck. And stuff. *cough*

But regardless of the trailers, it was pretty good! I liked it. It stayed pretty close to the book (which I didn't read!) without getting bogged down, and made a decent movie out of it. Having already known how it ends, it wasn't quite the shocking turn that it might be for others. And there were a few tweaks I wish they had included - like challenging him by forcing him to use progressively older starships, etc. But still a rather satisfactory experience.

Harrison Ford was good - was kinda worried he might be doing a Sean Connery and whoring himself out to any crap movie that would pay him, like some aging prostitute. But was completely unjustified. He's still got it, and the movie was good. Ben Kingsley on the other hand was just... extraneous. There was no emotional depth to him at all. They could have used a sock puppet with his picture pasted on it, and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Fortunately, he's not in much of the film. The kid who played Ender - Asa Butterfield - was just fucking awesome. Nailed it. While the romantic interest chick was just awkward and unnecessary. But it's Hollywood, so wtf-ever.

Also, he's training on a space station. Just in case you forget while watching. Cuz they will remind you. Alot.

In any case, go see the movie. It's good. And meanwhile I shall be rubbing my hands in anticipation for the next few months. Many movies coming. some look good. Some look so terrible that they will be awesome - Keanu Reeves as a samurai, fuck yeah!



In other 3d news, got another site for you to check out - Fantasy Beats Reality. Another up-and-coming artiste. Mostly fantasy type stuff, which I'm sure is shocking given the name. Some great rendered cumshot textures. So go take a look and give some feedback!

4 comments:

joeannie said...

Looking forward to the movie, but will wait for DVD. I've read many of Card's books; he tends to monologue a bit too much, but the first Enders book is good.

Rollory said...

She's not really a romantic interest. In the book she's just one of the few people who actually treats him decently, and I didn't see anything in the movie to try to make it more than that. Of course people will see it as romantic because they can't see boy+girl as anything else, but whatever.

It does stick to the book pretty closely, but I felt like it didn't quite do as good a job of selling some of the basic ideas as it could have ... but I know the story too well, I'm maybe not the best judge.

MongoBongo said...

@Joeannie - Don't recall any tedious monologues or soapbox preaching in the movie, so think you're safe on that count. Though it does play around the whole "are video games bad for children" concept - but only vaguely, and it does require a certain level of conspiracy paranoia to see it.

@Rollory - Nah bro, you're just being oblivious. The Hollywood moony-eyes bullshit was completely there. If it was more to the book, it would have given off the fist-bump "you're like my little brother" vibe. Which was definitely not there.

Zynachi said...

I saw it Friday, and just finished re-reading the book earlier in the week. I agree wholeheartedly. They definitely added a subliminal romance between Ender and Petra. Even if you disagree that it was romance, it was still a close relationship. For anyone who's read the books, it goes completely against what Ender was put through for the entire duration of training, and being forced to not get close to anyone until almost the end, when it all came together.

Good review tho..I was skeptical about how they were going to portray his obstacles, considering in the books, he worked through all of those obstacles in his head, portrayed as thoughts. Can't portray constant thoughts very well on screen. But they found a way to compromise and get the point across. I enjoyed it.

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