Ender’s Game (movie)

In a strange twist from the usual, I liked the movie better than the book. First off, the siblings’ desire to rule the Earth was dropped completely. This is Ender’s story and his elder brother’s quest for world dominance is best left out of it. Next, the adults actually interact with the students. In the book, it often seemed like the space station was peopled only with prepubescent kids who battled in zero-g and developed tactics that had never been conceived. That is retained to a large degree but adult supervision and training is evident; these kids are being given a foundation on which to build rather than left to their own devices. Where I thought the novel was ludicrous in relying on a 12 year-old to save humanity, the movie paints it in a more plausible light. The battles come across as extremely advanced video games where youths can adapt quickly rather than relying on old tactics that a veteran would have a hard time discarding. Moreover, the idea of telling them that it is merely a simulation rather than the real thing allows them to take risks that few commanders would dare.

In some ways, the movie made odd choices. The original invasion by the Formics is shown as happening in the modern day with fighter jets battling swarms of alien craft in the atmosphere whereas in the book the battle took place in space. Rackham, the hero of that battle, is shown as just a random pilot rather than a commander of a fleet. In the book, Ender defeated the enemy while in the Solar System, not traveling to the Formic colony where he finds a queen’s egg until years afterward; that would make for a long and clunky epilogue so the change is understandable.

One of the things that the movie completely overlooks is the distances. There is a reason that it has been 50 years since the war and that there is a specific deadline for the counterattack. Humanity sent fleets decades ago but, on account of distance, they aren’t arriving until now. This setup allowed for the military on earth to train commanders for the remote fleets. Also not discussed – though it did get mentioned – is the ansible. The ansible is a physics-defying communications system that allows instant communication between Earth and these distant fleets. Handy.

Asa Butterfield does a good job as Ender. He manages to be calculating and cold-blooded while still remaining a sympathetic character. Perhaps his youth provides that. It is hard to say much on the adult roles since they were almost footnotes in the book. Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) figured most prominently in opening dialogues for each chapter, commenting on how Ender was fairing. The movie provides more interaction between the two than I recall from the novel. As for Rackham (Ben Kingsley), the fact that he is still around 50 years after the battle that made him famous is never explained. In the book, he traveled around at near light speed to make him available for when the fleets would arrive. The movie supposes that he was a young pilot and is now an old veteran.

The movie does repeat some of my problems with the book. For instance, why is it that the Formics only attempt communication with Ender? There are scores of kids at Battle School and one supposes that many of them play the game that allowed Ender to communicate with the aliens. Apparently like the adults of Earth, they too knew that Ender was ‘the one’ and focused their efforts on him. Knowing that humanity is coming to wipe them out, why didn’t the Formics dispatch some ships to establish new colonies to escape extinction rather than depend upon the kindness of their exterminator? I understand the idea of culling through all of humanity for a super genius tactician but is it necessary that all his junior officers are his age? Couldn’t veterans follow orders as well, if not better, than adolescents?

Nitpicks aside, I enjoyed the film and give it a thumbs up.