Ender’s Game

(M) Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley

Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) stars as Ender Wiggins, a gifted geek selected by an embattled, militaristic Earth to lead the fight against invasion by alien Formics.

Ender is a whiz at computer-controlled war games, but to win the real battle he must become a cold-blooded killer.

Having cut his teeth on the socio-political themes of Tsotsi and Rendition, director Gavin Hood knows that the real interest here lies not in the futuristic sci-fi spectacle but in the more contemporary issues of virtual violence and its long term effects.This often makes the film feel bleak (and it should given the subject matter) but it is interesting how thematically close it is to The Hunger Games.

Ender’s Game may ask big questions, but it does it with violence as its constant companion. There is nothing especially gruesome or bloody, nor is there much in the way of profanity, but plenty of violence, and as such perhaps discussion about the content with its intended demographic is warranted after the film.

Adrian Drayton