Ender's Game was Unexpected

Last night, I got the chance to check out the sci-fi movie, Ender's Game, based on the novel of the same name, at school. It's totally not what I was expecting, and it was actually quite better than what I was hoping for. Some quick thoughts inside.

The movie follows Ender Wiggin as he climbs up the ranks in fighting an alien race. He meets friends and enemies in this academy he trains at to perfect his combat skills. But then it's so much more than that. Ender's already one of the most intelligent and skillful people out there. He's got a peaceful sister and a murderous brother and he inherits traits from both of them. 

Ender goes through various physical and mental trials in the movie. That's what really made this stand out for me. He's not only fighting and training to protect humanity from these aliens, but also having a war with himself about what to do in certain situations. This is a dark movie, that's for sure. There's the overarching conflict that he has between peace and war, and that's what drives the plot forward.

He's a kind person, only driven to violence when pushed beyond the usual limits. People who do this in the film do a good job at really agitating him. He overpowers everyone, though, which leads to some rough times for the other characters, but regret later on for Ender. Harrison Ford's character, Graff discusses how Ender has the ability to end all future conflict with his extremely violent outbursts to other people. He equates this to the impending alien attack and essentially uses Ender and his crew for more than what they bargained for.

Ender's Game is ultimately more than what it appears. It's definitely a deep film for what it is, and a lot of cool characters and moments help the hour and forty-five minutes fly by. I haven't read the book, but it looks like it's a huge series, and this might just be a good starting point among many prequels and sequels. The majority of the actors are all very young, but do a great job, even if some of the dialogue was a bit corny. This is definitely a movie where you have to differentiate between right and wrong. The final simulation Ender's team goes through is very bitter and really unites the movie's themes of right and wrong as well as deception.

So it defied my expectations. This is a pretty serious movie. I'd definitely recommend it to a sci-fi fan, but I think a lot of people can enjoy it!

- It's Clear