Category: 4.0 Star Reviews

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Movie Review: Oculus (2014)

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 Oculus (2014) movie posterA cleverly written, and truly unsettling horror

Star Ratings

Oh my god, I finally found a scary movie that actually scares me. That hasn’t happened since I saw the first and only good Paranormal Activity movie.

Oculus starts with a great back story. 10 years before, tragedy struck the Russel family, when Tim Russel (Garrett Ryan) was committed following the brutal murder of his parents. He has recently been released, and now just wants to move on with his life. His sister Kaylie (Annalisse Basso) isn’t so laid back. She is still haunted by visions that she had the night her parents died and she doesn’t believe everything is quite as it seems. Instead, she blames their deaths on the Lasser Glass, a mirror which was in their childhood home. Kaylie tracks down the mirror, determined to prove her brother’s innocence. The problem is, everyone who owns that mirror seems to come to an untimely, and usually mysterious death.

“An evil mirror?” You might be thinking. “How scary can that be?”

My answer is, it will make you fear your mirrors. Seriously, I went home and put sheets over ever single one of mine. I haven’t been able to put on makeup or fix my hair for a week, because I am utterly convinced that a evil supernatural being will use my mirror as a portal while I’m smearing on my lip gloss.

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What makes Oculus unique is that it doesn’t scare through cheap jump scares or gore and blood. It scares through pure dread and some serious mind screwing. It’s impossible to tell if the mirror is evil, or if Kaylie is crazy and the plot unfolds like a corkscrew.

Basso plays the unreliable narrator Kaylie well. She seems genuinely convinced, but at the same time, also a little bit nuts. As the background unravels in flashbacks, you will change your mind about 40 times as to what she really is.

This is an unsettling horror movie, cleverly timed in order to gain the maximum effect from the plot. The director toys with giving you the details, and then takes them back, so you will be left guessing.

This was a cleverly written, and truly unsettling horror, which is difficult to find in the age of Paranormal rip-offs and found footage garbage. Instead of focusing on scary makeup and ridiculous special effects, Oculus goes back to the good old days of writing a movie that actually had a good, multilayered plot.

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It’s really hard to pull off an unreliable narrator movie. In many cases, those who try to do it wind up giving away too much, or just being incredibly confusing (i.e. American Psycho). I haven’t seen a movie mislead an audience so well since I saw eXistenZ. Coming from me, that is incredibly high praise

I will say the ending was a bit of a disappointment, but this isn’t really the kind of movie that will leave you feeling satisfied, with all the lose ends tied up in a neat little bow. There’s no scene where the bad guy comes out, admits all his crimes and then explains why he did it. The movie is designed to leave you feeling unsettled, and the ending will do just that.

And then, just like me, you’ll go home and cover up all your mirrors…just in case.  Watch the official trailer below.

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Movie Review: Draft Day (2014)

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drafft day movie posterTense, Intelligent and Fun

Star Ratings

I’m not really a football fan, so I tend to avoid football related movies. If you’re like me, then I should tell you that Draft Day isn’t really about football. Instead, it’s more a behind the scenes look at the wheeling and dealing that makes football, and it is absolutely worth the watch.

In Draft Day, we meet Sonny Weaver (Kevin Costner), a general manager who has the opportunity to shape the Cleveland Browns into his dream team. His father, who was also the previous coach, has died and he now has the opportunity to trade up to the number 1 spot with Seattle. Of course, then he has to deal with the repercussions and that includes dealing with team owner Harvey Molina (Frank Langella) coach Vince Penn (Denis Leary) and even his own mother (Ellen Burstyn). There is literally no one who doesn’t have a strong opinion about his pick.

Let me say this again, I don’t like or even understand football, but I could still follow this movie. That’s because Costner plays such a great, self depreciating been-there-done-that character that he makes the movie worth watching.

I did feel that the movie was a bit too PG considering the subject. Let’s be honest, this is the NFL with its image scrubbed squeaky clean. The NFL was heavily involved in the making of this movie, so I doubt they would have approved anything that would have seriously undercut their image. The NFL actually went over the dailies of the movie and made cuts, which explains why they come out looking like utter Boyscouts.

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But this isn’t really a movie about football scandals. Again, it’s a movie about one man dealing with a high pressure job and handling everyone’s opinions on how he does that job. The NFL can be forgiven for trying to keep their image clean.
Costner has great chemistry with Jennifer Garner. Garner plays a fantastic, business savvy, football loving independent woman with a secret relationship with Weaver. The best part is they didn’t make her come across as a ball breaking cliché. Her character is likable and efficient, and she didn’t fall into the stupid ‘woman trying to prove herself in a man’s world’ trap. She is clearly knowledgeable and proves that effortlessly.

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There are some great football moments as well and fans of the game won’t be disappointed. The best part is, for those of us who don’t watch football, we become so emotionally invested in the characters that we actually care about the outcome of the game.
Draft Day isn’t a sports driven movie. It’s a character driven movie, and the characters make the movie. Costner shines like he hasn’t in a long time, and has more than made up for his last train wreck of a movie “3 Days to Kill.”
Draft Day is tense, intelligent and fun. This character driven drama can make even the most die hard non-fan of football care about the game. It was fast paced and filled with great, tense moments. This is a must watch for any football fan, and a fun watch for those who aren’t.
Heck, I might even watch a football game now.  Here is the Draft Day official Trailer:

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Movie Review: Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014)

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Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014) movie posterNOT AS SMART AS THE ORIGINAL BUT STILL A REAL TREAT

Star Ratings

I am so glad I have a kid, because I can go to children’s movies without looking like a complete weirdo. While occasionally, it might suck to get dragged to the movies to see some crappy piece of merchandizing by Disney (i.e. The Croods), occasionally, it just plain rocks when I get to see films like Mr. Peabody and Sherman.

Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell) is a dog who is a lot like the US Armed forces. He accomplishes more before 6 am than most people do every day. By his side is the mischievous boy sidekick Sherman (Max Charles). The two use their WABAC machine (time machine) to go on crazy adventures though time. Then, Sherman hijacks the machine and accidentally rips a hole in the space/time continuum. It’s up to Mr. Peabody to fix Sherman’s mistake and keep some of the most important events in history from disappearing entirely.

You know when I really like a children’s movie? When it is truly educational and doesn’t fudge facts to fit a stupid plotline (like ‘Barnyards’ male cow lead or ‘Free Birds’ complete obliteration of the facts of the first Thanksgiving.) Mr. Peabody doesn’t fudge facts or pander. In fact, he give a socially conscious satire of many things that might fly over the heads of a children’s audience, but will still resonate with adult viewers.

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If you’re old like me, then you know that this movie is based on an old cartoon of the same name. I don’t know what it was, but when I was a kid, Mr. Peabody could be kind of…well, a snarky asshole to be honest. For some reason, Ty Burrell gives this character a cuddliness that he didn’t have before. His sarcasm and clever quips come across as more “everybody laugh with me’ than “I’m the smartest guy in the room’.

Rob Minkoff, who gave us Stewart Little and the Lion King, manages the direction of this film perfectly. There is never a slow moment and the movie rips through one fast paced bit after another, dropping a little knowledge along the way.

The animation is 3D computer animation, which gives Mr. Peabody and Sherman a new life from the old flat one dimensional cartoons. The movie is a pleasure to the eye, with characters that pop and scenes that captivate the imagination.

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I could have done with a bit less puns. To be 100% honest, this movie is not nearly as smart as the original cartoon, but that’s ok with me. I like to laugh along with cartoons, not feel like they’re laughing about how stupid I am.

If you’re a parent, then you can rest assured that seeing Mr. Peabody and Sherman won’t be a chore. It will be a rare treat. The right casting gave Mr. Peabody some softer edges, while staying true to the original educational nature of the show gave it credibility. Whether you are a baby boomer fan of the original, or looking for a movie to entertain you and your kids, Mr. Peabody and Sherman is worth the watch.

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Movie Review: Need For Speed

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need_for_speed_ver3Not the Best, but Entertaining

Star Ratings

I’m usually disappointed when a movie is based on a video game, especially when it’s a game I like. When I learned that Disney was making a “Need for Speed” movie, I was naturally horrified. But the results weren’t half bad.

The protagonist is a mechanic making one last attempt to save his struggling garage. Blue-collar mechanic Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) builds and races cars with his rag tag team of buddies. Enter arch nemesis, the wealthy, arrogant ex-NASCAR driver Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper), who manages to frame Tommy for manslaughter just as he is about to save the day. It’s two years later and Tommy wants revenge.

The movie features a clever snappy script, which was well developed and cleverly executed. I wasn’t expecting a really dramatic premise, but the screenwriter delivered anyway. It’s one part action and one part innocent ex-con bent on revenge drama.

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Of course, what’s a racing movie without car races? These races were interesting, elegant and flawlessly executed. It’s a racing movie that allows you into the car, heightening the suspense. I think a lot of this worked because the producers chose to go with real stunts, as opposed to CGI. The results are realistic and suspenseful, if a little over the top at times.

I mean really, does every car have to explode into flame because it gets hit? Are these cars made of oxygen tanks soaked in gas?

This is Paul’s debut on the big screen, and I think he pulled it off reasonably well. Of course, coming from the role of Jesse, a meth cooking drug dealer in Breaking Bad, playing a blue collar criminal type is obviously Paul’s foray.

It’s not high art by any means. Need for Speed is just like its name, fast paced. It’s pure action and butt kickings, with more than a few explosions thrown in for good measure. You won’t walk away from this movie any smarter, but you’ll definitely be entertained.

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They clearly made a point of keeping the script relatively simple and cohesive, which is a refreshing change from the millions of other racing movies out there. This movie has a 70s or 80s racing movie feel, with a $60 million budget. In short, it pulls off pure entertainment.

The supporting players were a bit forgettable. Imigen was the fiery British love interest, but she really didn’t seem to fit into the movie. Michael Keaton as billionaire Monarch just felt silly. Dominic Cooper was a mustache twirling villain cliché of the highest form.

Is it the best movie I’ve seen this year? No. But it might be one of the most entertaining. This is a good Friday night movie, when you don’t want to do a lot of thinking. The plot moves pretty quick (I mean, the kid only does 2 years for manslaughter) and the high speed racing keeps it interesting.

If you’re a fan of the Fast and Furious franchise, then chances are, you will like this movie. If you’re a fan of the video game Need for Speed, you will probably like this movie. It’s fun, just a little bit angsty and not driven by drama or messages. It’s just a good time.

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Movie Review: 300: Rise of an Empire (2014)

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300-Rise-of-an-Empire-2014-Movie-Poster-600x886Worth the wait

Star Ratings

It’s been 7 years since 300 was released. This follow up is the much anticipated sequel, so let’s see now if it was worth the wait.

In 300: Rise of an Empire, Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) tries to unite Greece against an army of invading Persian forces. Complications arise, as these forces are led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), and Artemisia (Eva Green), the vengeful, yet incredibly sexy, commander of the Persian navy.

First, much props for creating a kick-ass bad girl evil villain. Artemisia is one part Goth and two parts Amazon, as she storms around, looking broody and crazy. At one point, she has a guy beheaded, then kisses the head, and then flings it away like it’s garbage. Eva Green is so much more than just a Bond girl, and she proved that in her bad assed interpretation of Artemisia. This girl villain was not just your standard leather wearing violent sex fantasy. She had a back-story and a good one at that. They developed the hell out of this character and made her truly three dimensional. No joke, she made the movie.

Ok, enough of my drooling over Eva Green.

Visually, the movie was gritty and gorgeous. The fight scenes were well choreographed and brutally gory, just the way I like them. The sepia-toning over the blood spilling was pure art in contrast and really captured the graphic novel feel of the movie.

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I don’t know if it was because Eva Green was so very good, or if the male characters weren’t fleshed out enough, but she really steals the show. In a ‘hero v villain’ war movie, I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to root for the hero.

But I was team Artemisia all the way.

Stapleton was no match for Green’s acting prowess and he came across as a cardboard advertisement for masculinity. He was hard to sympathize with as he really had no outstanding characteristics as far as I remember.

I also didn’t see the point of Xerxes’ character. He mainly just stood on the sidelines and watched Artemisia do all the work. The scene where he obtains his god like powers in a spa (not making this up) is just plain laughable.

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300 Rise of an Empire

The movie is a bloodbath that is a little bit gorier than it needed to be. I mean, I really don’t need slow motion blood spilling to let me know someone is dead. I’m pretty sure I could have worked that conclusion out on my own, especially considering the sword sticking out of their chest.

Weirdly, I actually liked the sequel way more than I liked 300. Of course, I probably liked it more due to the addition of Eva Green as Artemisia. I don’t know if you could tell this from reading the review, but I really, really thought she was fantastic.

Regardless, this is one hell of an entertaining movie. It’s currently sitting at number 1 in the box office, and I think it earned its spot. It’s not smart, it’s a little over the top gory, and it’s certainly not art. But it’s highly entertaining and is guaranteed to keep any action lover glued to the screen.  Watch the official trailer below.

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Movie Review: About Last Night (2014)

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about-last-night-kevin-hartKevin Heart?

4 stars

Third on my list for my Valentine’s Day releases was About Last Night. This movie was a remake of David Mamet’s 1974 stage play Sexual Perversity in Chicago and thank God, was one of the few romantic comedies that was tolerable this week.

The movie revolved around two couples. Danny (Michael Ealy) and Debbie (Joy Bryant) are the nice couple. They are just starting out a relationship and both are waiting for something to go wrong. Complicating matters is Bernie (Kevin Hart) and Joan (Regina Hall), a couple whose relationship is one long ‘hate-screw’. Unfortunately for Danny and Debbie, the craziness of Bernie and Joan starts to rub off and soon they’re questioning everything about their relationships.

The real standout in this movie was Kevin Hart, playing the loud mouthed confirmed bachelor Bernie, who gets some of the best lines of the movie. He makes the volatile relationship between him and Joan funny rather than sad, when it could have gone either way. Regina Hall had her own great moments herself, and was no pushover to Hart’s aggressive character.

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Ealy and Bryant, though they had obvious chemistry, felt one dimensional to me, as though the characters weren’t really fleshed out. I found it hard to believe that two people that good looking would have any trouble finding love. In order to make it believable, they should have given some kind of vulnerability to the characters.

The movie is light and fun, with no heavy back stories. Instead, it focuses on what it means to be in a relationship in a realistic, funny way. The movie focuses on one couple getting together as another falls apart. It shows the ‘choosing friends’ problems that come about when dating within groups. It is a realistic look at real relationships. There are no obvious romantic comedy clichés here. There’s no chasing someone down at an airport or meeting them at the Empire State Building at midnight. Instead, there is a realistic and frequently hilarious look at the stages of a relationship.

What really made this movie shine was the excellent screenplay, filled with snappy, intelligent dialog. The humor didn’t have to sink to being raunchy, because it was clever. For those who were dissatisfied with Hart’s most recent performance in “Ride Along’, “About Last Night” will more than make up for it.

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In a way, the lackluster performance of the two leads was ideal, as it allowed the real stars of this film, Kevin Hart and Regina Hall, to shine through. The two as a couple really steal the show.

The pacing of the movie was well done and the balance between the characters made the plot easy to follow. It’s not an extremely intricate plot, so it’s easy to follow already. In this remake, they stuck to the original simplicity of the play, which was why it worked.

Good direction, good actors and a great screenplay made this movie what it is. This newer remake is actually much better than the movie one made in the late 80s and it feels like this remake followed the original play a bit more closely.

Watch the official trailer:

[youtube id=”nNZFE3z0T7E” width=”633″ height=”356″]

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Movie Review: Ride Along (2014)

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ride along 4Worth the Watch

4 stars

Ride Along is topping the box office this week and there is a good reason why. There is just about no way to go wrong when you pair Kevin Hart with Ice Cube. Despite getting thoroughly panned by critics, Ride Along is still pulling in viewers at the theater.

Kevin Hart plays Ben, a security guard who is getting ready to get married to Angela (Tika Sumpter). Unfortunately, his impending marriage has a roadblock in the form of APD detective James (Ice Cube). In order to get James’ blessing to marry Angela, Ben must survive a 24 hour ride along. What follows are standard buddy cop shenanigans, where James proves to be a bit crazier than Ben thought, and Ben must survive not just run-ins with run of the mill thugs, but with the problems James causes himself.

Is it a new premise? No, of course not. Buddy cop, mismatched pairings have been around since the invention of the movie theater. What really makes the film come alive are the actors themselves.

Ice Cube’s straight-man tough cop is a great contrast to Kevin Hart’s eager, arrogant portrayal of a guy desperate to prove himself. A side plot about James going after an arms dealer gives the movie more purpose than just slapstick humor and makes it all come together. [more…]

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Of course, the movie isn’t without its flaws. The script feels a bit slapped together and it seems like the writers depended too much on Ice Cube and Hart’s likeableness, as the dialog wasn’t as strong as other buddy cop movies like “48 Hours” or “Bad Boys”. Hart and Ice Cube deserved better than that.

Also, Tika Sumpter’s character seemed spawned from some high school sex romp movie. She’s is large chested and small brained. She really does nothing but run around in short shorts, flashing cleavage, seducing Ben and leaving all her major life decisions up to her slightly unbalanced big brother James. It almost seemed like the writers slapped her in as an afterthought, even though her role in the film was part of a major plot point.

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While there is some pretty obvious product placement (a Ram truck gets commandeered in the first few seconds of the movie, Hart goes off on a tangent listing of the benefits of owning a Dodge Charger RT, etc.) they did manage to place the products in a way that fit the movie.

While the dialog wasn’t the best, the plot flowed pretty well and the major conflict, the arms dealer, didn’t feel forced. There is never a boring moment and just about every call turned into Hart getting beaten on or teased. All the standard clichés are there. Scary bikers, bratty kids and giant angry men all get a chance to throw Hart around. The action is entertaining and hilariously slapstick at the same time.

Ride Along isn’t anything you haven’t seen before. It’s a formulaic buddy cop comedy with a predictable ending. However, thanks to strong leads and nonstop action, it is a very good effort for its genre and totally worth the watch.

Watch the trailer below.  If you have seen the movie leave a review!

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Movie Review: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)

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Anchorman_2-_The_Legend_Continues83984Worth the wait

4 stars

After almost 10 years, the long awaited sequel has finally arrived. I went into the theater, hoping not to be disappointed, as I was a fan of the original, as well as the all out marketing campaign for the sequel.

In Anchorman 2, we are reunited with Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) in the early 1980’s. He is now married to Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) and has a young son, Walter (Judah Nelson). When Veronica is offered a prestigious position the same day Burgundy is laid off from his job, he tries to make her choose between him and her career (that worked so well in the first one) and is hilariously surprised when she chooses her career. The movie then follows Ron as he gets his old team back together to make a show for the new network GNN. When he gets there, he finds a brand new conflict. His boss is an attractive black woman, Linda (Meagan Good), who inevitably becomes his love interest later on…despite Ron not being about to squawk out the word “black!” like a nervous tick whenever she’s around.

Anchorman 2 does have the same humor as the usual. The laugh out loud moments, and the embarrassing, cringing moments. It has the same inspired weirdness as the original as well. Towards the end, Ron is living in a lighthouse, caring for an injured shark he named Doby.

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All in all, they did a pretty good job with the sequel. If you’ve seen Anchorman 1, then you know what you’re getting into going to see the second.

The people who really make this movie shine are the actors. Ferrell does a good job of bringing the oblivious, arrogant Ron Burgundy to life. His act was really a great carry forward of the original. Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) is played with adorable dimwittedness as well.

Cameos in this movie abound, and you can expect to see Jim Carrey, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kanye West, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and John C. Reilly.

It’s clear that the makers of the movie knew that they were making fun of the movie. Generally, in a sequel, if it’s not bigger and better, then the sequel is lost. However, this time around, the sequel went ridiculously big, with the primary goal being to jump the shark…literally.

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Not that I’m saying its bad. There are more than a few laugh out loud scenes and a few of the favorite one liners (Well, that escalated quickly) are dropped as well. While some of the laughs are predictable and over done, for the most part, the whole movie worked.

For fans of the original, Anchorman 2 won’t disappoint. It manages to keep the same ridiculous plot line as the original, with grown men acting like little boys. It is movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, with dozens of unnecessary cameos, over the top plot lines, and over the top reactions.

It might have taken more than 10 years to make the sequel, but Anchorman 2 was worth the wait.  Here is the trailer below.  If you have seen the movie, earn some points and leave a Review!!

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Movie Review: Hours (2013)

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Hours 1Maybe Walker’s Best Performance

4 stars

I felt the need to see this film because it was one of the last released films starring Paul Walker, who passed away following a car accident on November 30, 2013. Released posthumously, it might be one of the last opportunities to see Paul Walker play something beside a guy driving a car really fast.

Hours is a suspenseful twister based during Hurricane Katrina. In it, Nolan Hayes (Walker) rushes his pregnant wife Abigail (Genesis Rodriguez) to the hospital on a very unlucky day to go into labor, i.e. August 29, 2005. To top it off, Hayes’ daughter is premature and must be on a ventilator until her lungs are fully formed. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem, but when Hurricane Katrina bashes in the windows of the hospital lobby, it becomes a problem. As the power dies and Nolan has to keep his daughter alive with a hand crank respirator, he is forced to fend off looters and fight to stay awake.

Of course, the movie isn’t all tension. As the storm rages and Nolan tries to keep his daughter alive, he tells the store about how he and Abigail met, which is a cute rom/com story that shouldn’t fit, but does. [more…]

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One of the biggest tragedies of this movie is that Paul Walker will never get to get the praise he so deserved for his performance. It is no exaggeration to say this is the best performance of Paul Walkers career. I’m not just giving him ‘dead guy’ sympathy. If he was terrible, I would have just said he was terrible. Instead, he was fantastic and it’s a damn shame that he won’t be able to carry on what was an incredibly promising career.

Hours is a virtual one-man-show but it manages to stay suspenseful and captivating. In addition, it focuses on Katrina without exploiting Katrina, which is a hard balance when dealing with any kind of disaster movie.

Also many props are due to screenwriter Eric Heisserer. It’s surprising that this movie was so compelling; considering that his only other credits include movies like Final Destination 5 and that awful Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Apparently, Walker wasn’t the only one expanding his range with this movie.

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My one big gripe of this film was the death of Abigail, who dies in childbirth. It was way too much of a forced plot device. If this had been set in Victorian England, in the 1800’s, I would understand the ‘died in childbirth’ plot. However, it was set in Louisiana in 2005…before Katrina. If the wife had been killed as a result of the storm, it would have made a bit more sense then just a passing mention that she died in childbirth.

This film is both a triumph and a tragedy. Walker was clearly trying to break out of his Fast and Furious mold and return to the more compelling parts he played, like in Pleasantville or Flags of Our Fathers. And break of out the mold he did. If only he had lived long enough to reap the benefits.

Watch the Hours trailer below.  If you have seen the movie – Leave a review and earn some points. 

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Movie Review: Enders Game (2013)

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Enders102FLEnders Game

4 stars

Enders Game is a movie based on an extremely popular book by Orson Scott Card of the same name. To understand the book, you need to understand the time it came from. See, Enders Game was written back in 1985, before Iraq number 1 was a twinkle in Bush Sr.’s eye. As a result, this book has some political undertones that really come to light when discussing preemptive wars, like the 2003 war in Iraq.

Political undertones that are completely lost when the book is translated to the big screen…but I’ll get to that.

In Enders Game, the world’s fate sits in the hands of one boy, Ender Wiggins (Asa Butterfield) He is recruited and trained by the heroic Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford). Graff has been looking for a child to lead the invasion, because the battle will take place in a video game like environment, where only a child’s mind is open enough to think in a way that will help defeat the aliens. The majority of the movie focuses on Ender and a bunch of other kids training, to determine who is the true leader among them. [more…]

Yes, I am aware that the premise sounds ridiculous. However, in the book, the premise was symbolic. It was written in a time where only cold war was on everyone’s mind, so it was easy to be idealistic about the need for war. The premise gets a bit lost seeing the world isn’t the name way anymore…and also because they cut out a lot to squeeze the movie into a 115 minute run time.

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The special effects in this movie were fantastic. The entire movie was visually stunning. There are video bubble zero gravity environments, full scale virtual reality environments and more. The special effects were realistic and nearly flawless.

I say nearly flawless because right up until the aliens are unveiled, everything was going swimmingly. Then, you see the aliens and it all falls apart.

I’m sorry, but these aliens are allegedly supposed to be higher beings with superior intelligence. They would have been a hell of a lot scarier if they had been designed that way, and not like big roaches that had me reaching for a can of Raid. Yes, I am aware that Card wrote them that way in his original novel, but just because he wrote them that way didn’t mean he was right. In fact, Card has a history of being wrong. See his opinion on gay rights if you need verification of that.

Onto the acting.

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The lead, played by Butterfield, was expertly cast. This kid has this weird ability to look like a child, sound like a child, and act like an adult. With his piercing blue eyes that look right into your soul, trust me, you will find this kid off putting to say the least. However, for a movie like this, where children are in the role of adults, this casting was a stroke of genius.

Wish I could say the same for Harrison Ford, but honesty, I just wasn’t buying him as a grizzled war veteran. Instead, he looked like a grumpy old man. I spent the movie waiting for him to unwrap a Werther’s Original as he complained about ‘those damn teenagers’.

The movie Enders Game lost a lot of the politics and symbolism of the book in translation. Depending on where you sit on the political fence, this can be a good thing, or a bad thing. However, Enders Game is still an excellent action movie, with a standard implausible premise, and enough decent acting to make it worth the watch.