“Ender’s Game” delivers

By Will Sevy
Staff Writer

“Ender’s Game” is a captivating film, which features modern film making techniques and thrilling scenes that delight and surprise the audience. The film, directed by Gavin Hood, utilizes breathtaking special effects and remarkable acting along with intense action to create a unique and intense film.

In the future, mankind is invaded by an alien species called the formics, killing tens of millions of humans as mankind tries to save itself from extinction and fight the formics off. After this devastating invasion, humanity establishes the international military, where its trains very bright children to find the next great commander to lead the military fleet in destroying the formics.

The film follows Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a brilliant young boy who is selected to join the program by colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) and later becomes the commander of the military fleet against the formics.

One of the great aspects of this film is the outstanding visual effects. Furthermore, these special effects add to the intensity of the film and grab the audience’s attention immediately. Fantastic views of the planet and space along with the action of war make the film very realistic and detailed and a joy to watch. These special effects make the audience feel like a part of the film because of their color, crispness, and clarity.

The originality and futuristic look of the technology add to the excitement of the film. The military has many innovative gadgets and weapons that are used throughout the film such as holograms, a zero gravity machine, and many destructive weapons. These new ideas and visual effects are unique and engrossing because they have never been seen before and continually surprise the viewer.

Butterfield is successful in showing Ender’s spectacular strengths and weaknesses through his terrific display of emotions, and he causes the audience to care for him yet fear him at the same time because he can be compassionate and kind and then change to a violent savage suddenly.

Thrilling action scenes throughout the film also help keep the viewer engaged. During their training in battle school, the children battle each other in a zero gravity container. This environment is the setting for exhilarating fight scenes that show Ender’s military brilliance through his strategic moves and his understanding of his enemies. These scenes are full of action and intense fighting, which mesmerize the viewer.

However, a major flaw in the film is the lack of character development. Ender starts out as a violent, brilliant boy who then turns into a wonderful military commander, but his personality and emotions rarely change. Although his character somewhat changes, Butterfield’s facial expressions and acting do not. Butterfield’s acting is stagnant and shows his limits. This lack of change makes Ender predictable and slightly boring because the audience already knows his personality.

“Ender’s Game” combines action and special effects to create an engrossing and amazing film.

“Ender’s Game” is rated PG-13 and now playing in theaters nationwide.