The spirit was lost

A review of "Ender's Game" directed by Gavin Hood

The book: "Ender's Game" is a classic in the SF pantheon, which, although a best seller, had to wait a very long time to be made into a film. It was originally just an idea Orson Scott Card had when he was 16, about military training in a weightless "Battle Room". Eventually he turned it into a short story which was first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, in August 1977 when Card was 26.

It wasn't until 1983 however, when Card was struggling to write "Speaker For The Dead", (which had Ender Wiggin as the central character), that he realised that that book must follow a proper, full-length treatment of "Ender's Game". Thus it was that the novel was finally written and published, in 1985, 18 years after the original idea.

Books that have such a long gestation and are deliberately written to be integrated into other books can have a depth and potency missing from those that are dashed off in a few months from go to woe. "Ender's Game" won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for Science Fiction. The book became a best seller and remains one of the best loved science fiction novels of all time.

Naturally this novel was a prime target for a film adaptation, but Card was very protective of his artistic control over his story and wasn't able to reach an agreement with any major studio. In 1996 he founded Fresco Pictures and decided to write the screenplay himself. In 2003 he submitted this to Warner Bros but no agreement was reached. Then 4 years later he produced an entirely new screenplay. In 2009 he submitted a screenplay to Odd Lot Entertainment and it was announced that the film would go ahead with Gavin Hood as the director and script writer.

In the end, Card admitted that he had written about 6 scripts before Hood took over and that the final script was 100% Hood's... which begs the question: If Card was so protective of his work and so determined to get it right, why did he let someone else write the script?

Like most SF readers I was quite a fan of the book. I own a copy and have read it twice and I find it a real page turner, with many interesting SF ideas, strong characters and multiple layers of activity that hang together very well. On the surface it is a boy hero book for teenage geeks but there is more to it than that and the second book is a real gem for adults.

The movie sticks fairly well to the book although there is necessarily a lot left out. Now I know that a 2 hour movie can only hold so much information, but you have to question the point of the exercise when so much is left out that the story loses itself.

The greatest problem with this movie is the ENORMOUS reduction in time in the battle room and the social dynamic in the various teams that Ender is a part of. MOST OF THE BOOK is spent in Battle School. Ender spends time in the Salamander team led by Bonzo Madrid, which is briefly covered in the film, but he then spends time in the Rat team led by Rose de Nose before he is given Dragon to command.

The film only shows 2 battles in the weightless room but in the book there are many more and each one has a purpose. There are also numerous events that take place outside the battle room which are important also. Ender spends 4 years or more at Battle School and he grows in that time in various ways. You cannot simply gloss over half the book, as the film does, and expect it to work. You don't have time to get to know the characters and understand the social and mental journey that Ender has been on.

Without sufficient buildup the climaxes become meaningless and the viewer is left feeling confused. The final battle of Dragon army is a high point in the book but it doesn't feel that way in the film. Similarly the final battle against the Formics.

Certainly you can't put all the book into one film, but I believe that one more battle in the training room and one more in the command centre would have given a better buildup to the climaxes and a better understanding of the characters and what the book is all about. A better director would have seen this and done something about it. Sure it would add another 20 minutes, but I think the film could take it.

The other serious omission is the elision of the Locke and Demosthenes web characters set up by Enders two siblings which have a profound effect on what happens after the big battle. I can forgive leaving this out as there simply isn't room, but it does weaken the film, not to mention the sequel, should there be one.

Less forgivable is the alteration of book elements for no reason. Since Orson Card was involved in the production there weren't too many of these, but I should mention them anyway:

In the book Bonzo Madrid is bigger than him, and backed by 6 friends in the shower, not so in the film where Moises Arias has the size and build of a gymnast and is backed by only two friends. Ender's unbelievable bravery in the book is less amazing in the film. Now perhaps this is a good thing, as little Ender's fights against bigger, older boys is rather unrealistic, but the book is the source and probably should be stuck to.
Changing Bernard from an implacable enemy in the book to a loyal friend in the film is another questionable move. Sure, it's nice to think that a bully can turn out to have a heart after all, but it's not the book...
The final change to the book comes at Command School which is light years away, "somewhere near the Formics' home planet" whereas in the book it is an asteroid out near Saturn. This is problematic as the humans do not have a faster than light drive and there is clearly insufficient time for Ender to travel to a distant star system before he can give orders. Furthermore, the orders are still transmitted via ansible so what is the point? Stupid I say!
On this distant planet Ender finds the environment that resembles the castle of the giant and eventually finds the Queen's last egg. In the book this takes place a year or more after the last battle after he is forced into interstellar emigration after his sister explains that he can't return to Earth where his brother is heading towards global domination. This is wonderful as an epilogue and I believe could have worked that way in the film too. Instead we are treated to this crucial and poignant business mashed up with the command centre and the final battle and the Queen even makes a bizarre appearance to give Ender the egg. I understand that this alteration shortens a film where much was left out, but again, I believe that this shortening actually ruins what is left.

Other than the omissions and changes that may or may not have been necessary, the film is generally good. For example the actors are generally good:

Asa Butterfield makes a good Ender Wiggin, he is young enough, intelligent enough looking and wiry enough to fit the part.
It was good to see Harrison Ford at 71 playing the old man that he is. Sure he looks ugly and like he has lived an unhealthy life, but that may be appropriate for a character that is forced to hurt young boys in order to create a champion. He looks guilty!

The only false notes are:

Nonso Anozie as Sergeant Dap, whose bizarre performance is singularly out of place amongst 7 year olds. In the book he is: "a young and kind-looking man" who says "My name is Dap. I'm your mom for the next few months." Presumably this is simply a wrong headed conception of the character on the part of Gavin Hood...
More serious and unforgivable is Ben Kingsley's weak attempt at being Maori. His accent was hopeless and wandered around from bad Australian to South African and just occasionally a bit Kiwi. This is simply not good enough in professional production and he should have been told to go back to his English. One can only imagine that he had no Maori coach and was making it up on the spot. Either that or the speech was beyond him. Seriously: (and this goes for ALL cast requiring a foreign accent), JUST GET A REAL MAORI! There's plenty of them in NZ who would give their eye teeth for a role like that. God damn it Hollywood! How hard is it to get the real thing?

The Battle School was pretty well realised and I'd say the money there was well spent, although the walls should have been carpet and not glass, which only confuses the eye. Less convincing and satisfying were the battles against the Formics which looked too obviously CG. In the book the Formics home planet is completely blown up which provides a wonderful climax to all the fighting. In the film the planet is simply burned and lava is seen flowing, which is far weaker and doesn't provide the ending required.

All in all it was a fair effort: it stuck mostly to the book and looked mostly right and the actors were mostly good and the script was mostly alright... But somewhere among all those mostlys the spirit of the book was lost.

Perhaps only short books should be turned into movies...

score 6/10

Warren Mars - December 19, 2013