Ender's Game - B

Rated PG-13, 114 minutes

Ambitious, slick "Ender's Game" is best when it entertains

Harrison Ford

"Ender's Game" is the long-awaited film version of the Orson Scott Card science fiction novel and it doesn't disappoint. Part heady science film and part action film, it succeeds more as the latter than the former. Well-acted, energetically paced and filled with some memorable visuals, it's one of the better science fiction efforts as of late. After an alien race called the Buggers attacks Earth in 2086, the International Fleet led by Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) prepare for the next invasion by training the best young children to find another war hero to save the planet. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy but strategically brilliant boy, is prepped by Graff to be the Earth's next great hope. Directed and written by Gavin Hood ("X Men Origins: Wolverine") and based on Card's 1985 novel of the same name along with a novel series, it's inspired, even gripping sci-fi entertainment, though it stumbles a little in trying to accomplish too much. The memorable, exciting visuals and a great cast, headlined by Ford and including Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, Abigail Breslin and Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley as a facially tattooed war hero, though it's "Hugo's" young Butterfield (resembling a young Elijah Wood) who carries the weight of the film as Ender and a lot of heady emotion under those blue eyes of his in a star-making role. "Ender's Game" falters under a load of different themes, including military strategy, mental capabilities, violence (both simulated and real) and genocide, and many of those themes may be too heavy for a young audience. It's best to sit back and enjoy the film's throbbing score, action and a load of colorful CG special effects, particularly in the film's rousing, climactic battle scene. "Ender's Game" ends but truly doesn't end, leaving it open for more of these, and given the source material, there likely will be. "Ender's Game" is brisk, often thrilling entertainment as long as it keeps its head in the game.

Wes's Grade: B