Ender's Game

ACTION, ADVENTURE

Theoretical Warfare

7.75 out of 10 | Movie or DVD

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Rated: PG-13  Thematic material, some violence and sci-fi action
Release Date: November 1, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 54 minutes

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Director: Gavin Hood
Writers: Gavin Hood, based on the novel by Orson Scott Card
Cast: Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Aramis Knight, Moises Arias

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SYNOPSIS: The International Military seek out a leader who can save the human race from an alien attack. Ender Wiggin, a brilliant young mind, is recruited and trained to lead his fellow soldiers into a battle that will determine the future of Earth.

REVIEW: Gavin Hood, director of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, returns to the big screen after a short stint working for the small screen. Adapting the work of Orson Scott Card, Hood brings Ender Wiggins to screen at the perfect time.

50 years after an alien invasion by the Formic, Earth's military dedicates itself to enhancing its strategic preparedness to combat future extra-terrestrial threats. The International Military focuses on recruiting brilliant young boys and girls to train in the arts of war. Third child Ender Wiggins (Asa Butterfield, Hugo) follows in the footsteps of his older sister Valentine (Abigail Breslin, The Call) and his older brother Peter (Jimmy Pinchak, Let Me In). Competing to get into Battle School, Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford, 42) takes interest in Ender and pushes the young boy as far past his limits as he can. When Ender excels at all his schoolwork and tactical training, Graff promotes Ender to the orbiting space station for Battle School. Disliked, mistrusted or envied by the other 'Launchees', Ender must do everything he can to win over his fellow cadets. Rising up the ranks, Ender eventually finds himself face-to-face with endless simulation battles between the International Military and the planetary defenses of the Formic homeworld. Will Ender and his misfit squadron beat the Formic in a final simulation in order to graduate? And will they eventually be ready to face the true threat?

Based on the worldwide sci-fi bestseller novel 'Ender's Game' by Orson Scott Card, this adaptation remains as faithful as possible to the original story. Reading the novel as an adult, I have a greater appreciation for the story Card was telling. Not just a story of kids battling each other for supremacy in a academic school system – a la the Harry Potter franchise. Sure, the fate of the world between wizards and Muggles was threatened by Voldemort, but Ender's included the added components of having to save an entire planet from annihilation.

A sci-fi classic by Orson Scott card, 'Ender's Game' is the most accessible of the Enders stories for reading. As a series goes on, it gets more philosophical and deep. Cards later works, including 'Speaker for the Dead', 'Xenocide', and 'Children of the Mind', start to rival Frank Herbert's 'Dune' in terms of religion, philosophy, and exploration of xenomorphic entities. At the center of all the stories in the series, Ender struggles with is own nature, the solitary life he is forced to lead, and the choices he must make.

Ender's Game boasts a fine cast including Harrison Ford as Graff, Viola Davis (The Help) as Major Gwen Anderson, and Ben Kingsley (Iron Man 3) as Mazor Rackham. On the younger side Abigail Breslin plays Valentine, Moises Arias (The Kings of Summer) plays Bonzo Madrid, and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) plays Petra. But the jewel of the crown in casting is that of Ender, played by Asa Butterfield. He is not the normal the muscular and chiseled adolescent protagonist. His portrayal is wide-eyed with innocence, all the while struggling with his dual nature of violence and empathy.

On the strategic and tactical side Ender's Game uses wonderful CGI and wire work to bring to life scenes most integral to the story. From the zero gravity Arena at Battle School, to the mountain lake and skiff on Earth, to the captured forward Formic outpost that the International Military uses as a base of operations to plan assaults on the Formic homeworld. Ender's Game is a mirror of the book. The final simulated battle between the International Military and the Formic armada is rendered in beautiful detail with military precision. It is a sight to be seen, especially in IMAX.

Fans of Orson Scott Card's original and revised work should be thrilled at the adaptation to the silver screen. Now is the time when movie magic FX can tell this tale in grand style. For those who have not read the book, they will find enjoyment in every surprising twist or turn. Ender's Game is a superb sci-fi daylight, grounded in the mind of a young man on the precipice of greatness.

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42

DOCUMENTARY, DRAMA

All We See is Greatness

8.5 out of 10 | Worth

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Rated: PG-13 Thematic elements, including language
Release Date: April 12, 2013
Runtime: 2 hours 8 minutes

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Director: Brian Helgeland
Writers: Brian Helgeland
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, T.R. Knight, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie. Lucas Black, Ryan Merriman, Hamish Linklater, John C. McGinley

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SYNOPSIS:  The life story of Jackie Robinson and his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey.

REVIEW: Writer/Director Brian Helgeland, started his writing career with A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and most recently wrote Robin Hood and adapted a screenplay for Green Zone. Now, Helgeland returns with a screenplay surrounding the man who would be 'The First'. Jackie Robinson would become the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era.

The Second World War has ended and red-blooded Americans have witnessed victory over Nazi Germany and the Imperial Empire of Japan. Brave men and women of all races, creeds, and walks of life work side-by-side to ensure victory. But when men of color returned from the war they found they were still subject to segregation. Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford, Cowboys and Aliens), Owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Rickey bucks decades of whites only baseball, by selecting a young African-American ballplayer from the Negro Leagues to fill one of the 400 spots in Major League Baseball. That man was a young ex-military, four sport UCLA student named Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman, The Kill Hole). As the first African-American baseball player sent to what is the modern era of the major league with all white players, Jackie Robinson faced hatred and racism by his own teammates, other league teams, passionate stadium crowds, and host cities. Only Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson's wife Rachel (Nicole Beharie, Shame) and a young African-American reporter named Wendell Smith (Andre Holland, Miracle at St. Anna) believe that Jackie could be destined for greatness.

42: The Story of Jackie Robinson focuses squarely on two men. The first is the athlete Jackie Robinson himself and the work and accomplishments of his rookie year in major league baseball. The second figure is that of the Brooklyn Dodgers ball club owner Branch Rickey. Jackie Robinson wasn't looking to make history as the first African-American major-league baseball player in the modern era. It was Branch Rickey who decided to buck convention, buck the odds, and buck public opinion by bringing the talented Robinson to the big leagues from the Negro League. While Rickey claimed that his reasons for bringing Jackie up was not a matter of black-and-white, but a matter of money-making green, Ricky did do something that most men at the time would not have even attempted. But even so, through the racial slurs, the taunts, and the threats, it was Jackie Robinson who needed to take the brunt of the public's perception of him. Everyone may have seen Robinson as a color, it was up to Robinson to make his teammates, the fans, and the nation of the possibilities of his greatness.

42 opens in Rickey's office as he makes his decision to make one of the 400 major-league baseball players a non-white man. From there we quickly follow the exploits of Jackie Robinson from the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro League, to the opportunity for Robinson to try out for the Dodgers' farm team - the Montréal Royals. Dealing with boos and cheers from the crowds Jackie Robinson proves that he can play ball with the best of them. From the Monarchs, Rickey brings Robinson up to the Brooklyn Dodgers, opening up a higher level of racial inequality and bigoted attitudes.

Several specific events represented on-screen show the lengths of venom that Jackie Robinson endured. The first involved a hotel letterhead declaration signed by his teammates that they would ever set out on the same field as Jackie Robinson. Branch Rickey and Dodgers manager Leo Durocher (Christopher Meloni, Law & Order: SVU) set out to quell that revolt. The second, and perhaps the most painful to watch, focuses on the racial rants from Phillies manager Ben Chapman (Alan Tudyk, Wreck-It Ralph). The last comes with Pee Wee Reese (Lucas Black, Promised Land), a piece of hate mail he receives, and the decision he must make to either stand up for his hometown fan in Kentucky or the loyalty he has for his team. We are shown representative samples of what Robinson dealt with in his early seasons in the Major Leagues but none of them can truly or accurately capture the severity and indignities Robinson truly suffered.

Harrison Ford and Chadwick Boseman really do steal the show, keeping the focus on their relationship and the turmoil they collectively suffered through. Harrison Ford plays against type as the jolly old lover of baseball just trying to make a difference. Chadwick Boseman embodies the restraint, fortitude, and patience of a man who proclaimed that he 'was built to last'. Alan Tudyk as the Phillies manager Ben Chapman is the epiphany of a closed minded redneck who thinks he's in the right in the same moment where he's doing wrong. The actor who plays Wendell tried to act as Robinson's conscience but pales in comparison to Robinson himself. John C. McGinley (Alex Cross) brings a little bit of light-hearted novelty to the role of Red Barber as he announces each game for Dem Bums. The rest of the cast is a smattering of legendary ballplayers like Pee Wee Reese, Eddie Stanky (Jesse Luken, Justified) and others. There is one exchange between Robinson and Ralph Branca (Hamish Linklater, Battleship) concerning team showering that is near priceless.

42: The Story of Jackie Robinson peeks into the rookie year of a man who broke down barriers as he broke records. Tender sweet at times while difficult to swallow at other points, 42 will make you want to stand up and cheer for the underdog.

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