MOVIE REVIEWS: ENDER’S GAME

When it comes to critical reaction to Ender’s Game, call it a draw. In the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan writes that the movie “gains a lot from the ability of its story to touch a nerve. A film for young people to which adults can eavesdrop if they are so inclined, it’s not any more sophisticated than it needs to be. But … its story line touches on a number of intriguing issues.” Sara Stewart in the New York Post writes that she bore in mind author Orson Scott Card’s “anti-gay stance … 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.” And Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune takes a middle view, calling it “a bit of a tweener, neither triumph nor disaster, a war-games fantasy with a use-by date of Nov. 22, when the new Hunger Games movie comes out.” Other critics, however, are not so charitable. Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News advises: “Audiences of all ages, avoid it. Brain cells are too valuable.” And Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street Journal sums up: “Not only does “Ender’s Game” have many scenes in zero gravity, but this zero-sum fiasco has zero drama, zero suspense, zero humor, zero charm and zero appeal.”