Ender's Game (November 1, 2013) PG-13

Starring:

Asa Butterfield (Hugo, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)

Harrison Ford (Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blade Runner)

Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, Romeo and Juliet)

Ben Kingsley (Hugo, Shutter Island, Gandhi)

Aramis Knight (The Dark Knight Rises)

Ender about to start a competitive game
with Colonel Graff watching
(Photo taken from hollywoodreporter.com)

I read the book of the same title, as well as its twin brother Ender's Shadow.  Both books are excellent.

As a fan of the book, I am disappointed with this movie.  They skipped over so so many brilliant parts of the book.

I call this movie, "a skeleton of the Ender's Game book."  No guts, no meat, no brain--just a skeleton that resembles what the book is.

People who never read the book liked this movie, from talking to some friends of mine.  So that's something, I suppose.

But me, I will never see this movie again if I can avoid it.  It could have been so much.  It could have been Good Will Hunting meets Lord of the Flies meets Starship Troopers with a $110 million budget.  Instead we got a rushed, "let's get this movie over with" disappointment that made me depressed the rest of the night.

Asa Butterfield filming one of the school battle scenes
(Photo taken from hollywoodreporter.com)

Shame on you, Director Gavin Hood.  You ruined X-Men Origins: Wolverine and now you've ruined Ender's Game.  Seriously, shame on you.

Factoid: The U.S. Marine Corps has Ender's Game on its recommended reading list for officers, because of its lessons in "training methodology, leadership, and ethics."