Ender's Game, written by Orson Scott Card, was a book that I enjoyed many
years ago; thus, I was interested if Hollywood could do justice to this science fiction classic. While Ender's Game, the movie, was only average, I think they did good job with portraying the book as I remember it. Ender's Game stars Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, and Ben Kingsley. So what is the story?
Fifty years have passed since the Earth was attacked by the Formic, an insect species of space invaders. At that time the military was able to defeat the Formic, but only due to the actions of one man, Mazer Rackham (Kingsley). In the present, signs indicate that there may be another attack from the Formic; hence, a new crop of young recruits of space warriors are needed to fill the ranks. These cadets will be the core of those that will be used to engage the Formic.
The film begins by introducing recruit Ender Wiggin (Butterfield) who wants to follow in the footsteps of his hero Rackman by trying out for the International Forces. We find Ender being caught in a misdeed and gets called into the office of Colonel Graff (Ford), leader of the school that trains the recruits. Graff sees that Ender has potential for being a leader so he bumps him up to the next level, Battle School, where he'll train in space. We follow Ender as he progresses through the ranks, often seen as a threat to anyone who has aspirations of becoming a Commander of the Forces. When Ender shows greatness in a zero gravity fighting exercise at Battle School, Graff opens the path for him to be the commander of Earth's forces.
Ender's Game is the story of Ender's rise to be the commander and how he unknowlingly engages the Formic. I recommend this good adaptation of the book.