Remember, the enemy's gate is down
Nov. 17th, 2013 10:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adelagiaWent to a late IMAX showing of Ender's Game last night with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sarea_okelani. I liked it, with reservations. Spoilers within, obvs.
Asa Butterfield is a revelation. He was so good, ugh.
Visually it was excellent, especially the final battles' control room and the battle rooms, which I had trouble envisioning while I was reading the book (well, I say reading, but I actually listened to the audiobook), not because the descriptions were poor, I just have a lousy imagination for things like that. As I told Sarea, all I saw in my head was a square box with white walls.
Because the book takes place over several years, we get to see Ender's fears and isolation and grit, which don't come across nearly as well in the movie. In fact, things happen way too easily for him in the film. What makes him such a compelling, sympathetic character in the book is that he has to fight every step of the way, and he gets there, despite everything thrown at him. I get why they had to accelerate the process so much in the film; there are only 2 hours to tell the story, after all, but it really removes a large part of the affinity the audience should have with Ender.
The thing that bummed me out the most was Petra's inflated role in the movie. It should've been Bean or Alai in whom Ender confided, Bean or Alai who asks to stay by Ender's side. The friendship Ender has with both of them in the books runs so much deeper than what we got to see in the film, and much stronger than what he has with Petra. Worse still was the hint of romance between them. While I understand that Ender's Game has a pretty big gender imbalance, writing in an undercurrent of romance is not the right fix for it. Making Major Anderson a woman? I'm totally good with that. Forcing a relationship where there's none? Just, no. That's not what Ender's Game is about, that's not who Ender is, and not what he was focused on. It was completely superfluous and used up time that we could've spent better with Ender's real struggles.
I don't know how well it stands up as a film if you're not familiar with the book. We had this discussion about how it's impossible to see it from both sides, and it's frustrating that way, that you can't both go in blind and carry expectations at the same time. Gah.
OMG, One Direction's album just got leaked a week early. *flails* I won't talk about it; I know I've been yakking about them on here excessively. Eeee.
sarea_okelani. I liked it, with reservations. Spoilers within, obvs. Asa Butterfield is a revelation. He was so good, ugh.
Visually it was excellent, especially the final battles' control room and the battle rooms, which I had trouble envisioning while I was reading the book (well, I say reading, but I actually listened to the audiobook), not because the descriptions were poor, I just have a lousy imagination for things like that. As I told Sarea, all I saw in my head was a square box with white walls.
Because the book takes place over several years, we get to see Ender's fears and isolation and grit, which don't come across nearly as well in the movie. In fact, things happen way too easily for him in the film. What makes him such a compelling, sympathetic character in the book is that he has to fight every step of the way, and he gets there, despite everything thrown at him. I get why they had to accelerate the process so much in the film; there are only 2 hours to tell the story, after all, but it really removes a large part of the affinity the audience should have with Ender.
The thing that bummed me out the most was Petra's inflated role in the movie. It should've been Bean or Alai in whom Ender confided, Bean or Alai who asks to stay by Ender's side. The friendship Ender has with both of them in the books runs so much deeper than what we got to see in the film, and much stronger than what he has with Petra. Worse still was the hint of romance between them. While I understand that Ender's Game has a pretty big gender imbalance, writing in an undercurrent of romance is not the right fix for it. Making Major Anderson a woman? I'm totally good with that. Forcing a relationship where there's none? Just, no. That's not what Ender's Game is about, that's not who Ender is, and not what he was focused on. It was completely superfluous and used up time that we could've spent better with Ender's real struggles.
I don't know how well it stands up as a film if you're not familiar with the book. We had this discussion about how it's impossible to see it from both sides, and it's frustrating that way, that you can't both go in blind and carry expectations at the same time. Gah.
OMG, One Direction's album just got leaked a week early. *flails* I won't talk about it; I know I've been yakking about them on here excessively. Eeee.
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no subject
on 2013-11-19 05:31 am (UTC)Also, there's a download link for Midnight Memories at
no subject
on 2013-11-19 05:40 am (UTC)Thank you for the link! I already got it by other means ;)
no subject
on 2013-11-19 06:44 am (UTC)You're welcome!