By Courtney Zapp | Staff writer
The movie Ender’s Game (PG-13), based off of the 1985 book by Orson Scott Card, premiered at the beginning of November quietly in the shadow of other awaited films like Thor 2 and Catching Fire. Although it has not been waited for by millions of screaming fans, it may have caught the attention of those who have read the book. Like all other films based off of books, there is one question about it that stands above the rest: Was it similar to the book, or did it fall short?
Ender’s Game is set on a futuristic Earth following a devastating war with an alien race known as the “Buggers”. The main character is Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, who is training to become a member of the Earth’s defense fleet in case of another attack by the Buggers. Both the book and the movie portray several action sequences and fight scenes, and where the imagery of such actions fall short on paper, it is splayed out extensively on screen, leaving nothing for the imagination.
Where the action thrives on screen and leaves much to be desired on paper, the opposite can be said about Ender’s extensive internal monologues and thoughts. There is a good amount of dialogue from the book included, but a disappointingly small amount of narration and family background, which made up much of Ender’s thoughts and opinions. The inability to hear Ender’s thoughts and learn about his family on screen robbed the audience of experiencing the character development found when reading the book.
If you have read the book, you will be excited to see Ender’s tactics and experiences play out on screen, although some details of the plot will have been left out. It would be a good idea to read the book before seeing the movie, but it isn’t necessary for you to be able to enjoy it.
