So... Ender's Game *OT* (Off-Topic)

by MrPadraig08 , Steel City, Tuesday, November 05, 2013, 06:54 (4039 days ago) @ Quirel

Almost entirely spoiler free.

Went and saw it with my brother tonight.

It was better than I feared, not as good as I had hoped. A lot of parts seem to have suffered because they had to cut so much out. Maybe better pacing could have helped, but there didn't seem to be enough meat behind Ender's growth through Battle School, or his struggle and breakdown from having the deck stacked against him.

And Peter, well, his impact on Ender just wasn't justified by his forty-five seconds of screentime. By necessity and common sense, the "Peter and Valentine take over the world" subplot was omitted, but what's left is just another jock.

That said, the Formics and the discovery of the Queen made up for the worst parts of the movie, and the Battle Room was awesome... if under-utilized. My brother was blown away by the 'simulation' reveal toward the end, since he hadn't read the book. My own wow-moment came when I finally made the connection between some crumbled spires and... well, you'll know if you see the movie.

Ender's Game is an alright science fiction film, but it's not a good adaptation of a science fiction classic. And... I guess that's it, except for one thing.

So, I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I've only read about a quarter of the book and semi-knew the plot twist at the end (still blew my mind though.)

The pacing is what suffers the most from the time restriction, it honestly feels like a montage of the movie we're supposed to be watching, it cuts from scene to scene and wastes absolutely no time. This helps out the battle school scenes and dragon army scenes as it just builds momentum, but they still show like 3 war games in total. I was also a bit disappointed they didn't take time explaining how society changed and shifted after the buggers had attacked before. There is no explanation of why being a third is different or difficult. Peter's influence was phoned in, and entire subplots were dropped.

It's also difficult to do a visual external interpretation of a work that is mostly about the character's emotions and thoughts. Could've used narration for that, but the narration in there already felt flat.

Also, did anyone notice that when Harrison Ford is talking to Ender while Bonzo is being operated on, he has like some food on his face. Did no one notice that when filming?

All that being said, it did better than I feared and was a fun sci-fi movie, definitely itches the classic sci-fi itch I've been having lately.

One. Little. Thing.

*Twitch*

By God, Heinlein, and Freeman Dyson, can we please get one realistic depiction of space combat? How may visual effects directors am I going to have to kill until you limp sacks of Kzinti dung quit treating space. Like. A. Fracking. Ocean?! Mass Effect was bad enough, but Ender's Game? The story about a kid who excels at space combat. Because. He. Understands. Three. Dimensional. Space?! What the HELL is the matter with you? A crew of Vogon bureaucrats could have done a more competent job! And the atmospheric entry. Star Trek Into Darkness Occasionally Lit By Lens Flare has the sad excuse of being Star Trek, but do you Hollywood idiots truly have no clue how high up lunar orbit is? Or how comparatively thin the gorram atmosphere of a planet is? Screw you and the horse y'all rode in on!

Yea, space is made of math and science, it's hard stuff. Maybe someone will get it right someday.