I love this book. Say what you want about Orson Scott Card and his political/religious stances, Ender’s Game is a solid book. Everything else I’ve read of his was a waste of my time but not that book.
I do not love this movie. It’s not a terrible movie. I’d say it’s almost good. But it’s not good.
In the future, humanity will encounter a race of large ant like beings in space. The first encounter is called the 1st war. The aliens then invade Earth, most of humanity’s forces are destroyed but in the upset of all upsets; Kiwi commander Mazer Rakham destroyed the invading fleet with the last gasp of human forces. Since then all of Earth has united and organized itself to combat the further invasion of the bugs. Language is standardized and children are monitored and mined for potential military contribution. Those deemed worthy are brought to Battle School to be tutored in Space combat.
Battle school teaches space maneuvers and their underlying theory by having student organized armies play lazer tag in zero gravity. The student armies are completely student run. Soldiers are ranked by individual performance, armies are ranked by group performance. The internal politics and undercurrents of this school are utterly fascinating. The slang, games, and various drama are my favorite part of the book.
But almost none of that made it into the movie.
The movie does focus on Ender, but it fastforwards him through his career at Battle School. It also doesn’t go into what his brother and sister get up to while he’s away at school. They literally shift the balance of power in the world during his absence but it didn’t make the cut
Spoilerish stuff follows:
I personally think this movie should have been 2 movies. Not a trilogy like everyone seems to be doing these days, but 2 movies. The first could end with Ender deciding the teachers at Battle School are actually the enemy and beating the 2 armies by a unique interpretation of the rules of engagement and thinking he’ll be reprimand but surprised by his immediate promotion to Command School. Then have the second movie focus on Command School and the war.
That way we’d have enough time to go into Peter and Valantine, and how fucking cool Battle School is. Also I think Ender was poorly cast. The kid doesn’t look capable of beating an infant to death. Ender is a killer. He’s a young potential Hannible Lecter. Not that he is, just that he had the potential to travel that road. The kid needs to be a little more intimidating.
I didn’t hate this movie, but I wish they hadn’t made it. If you tackle a story this beloved you need to go all in or fuck off.