When aliens come gunning for us, who better to devise a counterattack than kids who’ve spent their whole lives tethered to the Xbox? That’s the tween-minded fantasy of “Ender’s Game,” a big, dark film that should satisfy the many fans of the Orson Scott Card novel and engage newcomers, too.
In the near future, 12-year-old Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield of “Hugo”) is one of the elite child geniuses groomed to be warriors in a world that’s spent decades recovering from an attack by an ant-like race of aliens called Formics. Director Gavin Hood lets you know right away that this ain’t camp like “The Last Starfighter”; in an early scene, Ender’s implanted head monitor is removed messily as he shrieks.
Ender’s been targeted as leadership material by the program’s commander, Colonel Hyrum Graff, played with weary gravitas by Harrison Ford. It’s good to see Ford in space mode again, if tough to imagine him as a gaming expert — his character seems more the type to growl terms like “newfangled.” But command the little geniuses he does, with the help of Viola Davis’ Major Gwen Anderson, who doesn’t have a lot to do beyond furrowing her brow and saying, “That wasn’t in the original simulation.”
After a brief glance at Ender’s family — in particular his close relationship with sister Valentine (Abigail Breslin) — we get to the meat of the story, as the recruits are rocket-blasted to Battle School. The space-based boot camp sees teams of kids pitted against one another in an enormous anti-gravity arena, where they float around, strategize and fire freeze rays at one another. It all looks highly fun, except the part where Ender gets bullied: He’s egregiously praised by Graff in front of the others, so he’ll be forced to develop his skills as a singular leader (“We need a Julius Caesar, a Napoleon,” Graff says, before it’s pointed out that neither of those guys ended up all that well).
Hood (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”) goes all out with the Battle Room, and with the eventual war simulations Ender will command like a diminutive conductor. His spectacular 2-D visuals have a crispness and depth that, ironically, seems absent from many 3-D films. One triumphant scene, in which Ender has a “Matrix”-like moment of realizing his potential as a fighter, has an almost ballet-like quality.
On top of that, the young Butterfield gives “Ender” depth beyond its video-game setup (something you could be forgiven for doubting if you’ve seen the underwhelming, action-centric trailers). As he learns the art of command and cooperation — and, increasingly, starts to second-guess the mission — Ender evolves before our eyes into a true leader. With his wide-set eyes and unflappable gravity, punctuated by subtle moments of wry humor, the kid’s a magnetic screen presence.
There’s scant time for other character development, a shame in the case of Ben Kingsley’s face-tattooed Maori war hero, Mazer Rackham. He dispenses a bit of twinkly eyed advice, then fades into the pantheon of adults who stand on the sidelines watching the kids fight their battles. Likewise, neither Hailee Steinfeld, as Ender’s friend Petra, and Moises Arias (“Kings of Summer”) as his nemesis Bonzo, are given enough screen time to really stand out.
The film loses its way a bit in the home stretch; a climactic battle never really feels urgent enough, and the final sequence is shameless sequel-bait. “Ender’s Game” is at its best when showcasing the evolution of Ender’s moral and strategic education.
I bore in mind the controversy over author Card’s anti-gay stance, which stirred up boycott calls — but there’s nothing of it here. There’s a reason the novel has been such a universal favorite since its release in 1985: Its examination of our bellicose culture, and the wisdom of youth, makes it a timeless story regardless of your political views.
Plus, it’s kinda nice to see a boy at the heart of one of these dystopian sagas, for a change.