Ender's Game

**
UK Release Date: October 25th 2013

Young Ender Wiggin is recruited by the International Military to lead the fight against the Formics, a genocidal alien race which nearly annihilated the human race in a previous invasion.

Director: Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Rendition)

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis

Ender's Game derives from a book of the same name. It's a science fictional piece that relies heavily on a young cast. The main character Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is a kid with a serious attitude. It may stay close to the book, but depicting such a character on screen doesn't have the same effect. Knowing book/comic version of Ender's thoughts and feelings through our imagination adds a foundation that the film cannot match. The world-saving burden put on his shoulders and the added stress of going through puberty (because that's totally what it is) doesn't make for a gripping view.

There's an exceptional level of uniqueness in Ender's Game that's brought to the genre's table. The majority of the film is a build up to the inevitable but shocking finale, but what's included is fun all the same. The zero gravity training sessions are entertaining but distance us from the real mission at hand.

Instead of focusing on the aliens' second attempt at genocide, Ender's Game primarily centres on Ender and his emotions. The International Military, led by Harrison Ford's Colonel Graff, seamlessly break Ender only to build him back up... and repeat. Playing with Ender's emotions is half the battle, relying solely on him to save the world is the other.

When the ending finally comes, because let's face it, that's what we're here for, Ender and his young team take on board what's happened surprisingly well. Very, very unlikely to happen to anyone with any emotional response.