"Ender's Game" (2013) REVIEW

50 years after the invasion that nearly wiped out the human race, 12 year old Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is chosen to become part of the military program starting in a space-based battle school. The commanders see hope in Ender, that he may be the one to command the army to take down the alien foe once and for all.

Based on the award-winning novel by Orson Scott Card, "Ender's Game" does the book justice... in a way.

As a movie itself, it may be a bit confusing and cut off too early if you didn't read the book. Don't get me wrong, this is a great stand-alone movie, but it's kind of like "Harry Potter" as to getting a full understanding of the film.

As a book adaption, this movie isn't that bad. What my main complaint about the film is the pacing. Where most films take out chunks of the book and replace them with something else, this movie takes huge chunks out and leaves them empty causing the length of the film to be shorter and the story with a lot missed information, leaving me to think it could have easily been an hour longer.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the movie. The battleroom sequences, given that there are only 3, are amazing. The simulators are astounding as well and fun to watch. I'll definitely be buying this movie when the Blu-ray comes out!

As a movie: 3.5/5 stars

As an adaption: 4/5 stars

Comments

"Need for Speed" (2014) REVIEW

I know I'm not the only one who thought this movie was going to be a flop. I mean, not only is it a high-speed street racing movie, but it's also a videogame movie. Still, I gave it a shot, but mostly for the D-Box experience. Even with the earnings from winning illegal street races, Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) is still unable to keep his auto repair shop from his father open. For a chance to get $500,000, Tobey takes an offer from his street racing rival and successful car dealer Dino Brewster (Domonic Cooper) to finish building the Ford Mustang that Caroll Shelby was working on when he died. After building the car and selling it without Dino's consent, Dino challenges Tobey and Tobey's friend, Pete, to a street race for the money. Nearing the end of the race, desperate for revenge, Dino pushes Pete over a bridge and drives away, leaving Tobey to be blamed for vehicular manslaughter. Two years later, fresh out of prison, Tobey seeks out to knock Dino off his p...

Books on Film by Black Authors

There's no real order to this list, nor can I guarantee which ones are worth reading or not. However, the quality of the books are not the point, but rather we should lend these voices our eyes, ears, and time, giving them a stronger voice than they would have had without at least mentioning them. Titles link to the Goodreads page for the specific book and additional links will be listed to buy the book from Barnes & Noble and/or Thriftbooks (non-affiliated). Don't forget to see if your local bookstore might have these in stock! Missing your favorite? Tweet me @AuthorKLau and I'll update the article! Independent Visions: A Critical Introduction to Recent Independent American Film by Donald Lyon Far from the big money movie machine of Hollywood lies the cutting-edge, artistically fresh world of American independent film. These independent filmmakers, working outside the formulas and constraints of the big studios, produce today’s most exciting and innovative movies. In ...

Blue Beetle Rebirth Vol. 1: The More Things Change (Rebirth #1, #1-#6)

2/5 Jaime Reyes as the Blue Beetle has interested me and been on my reading list for a while. When I first discovered the character watching Batman: The Brave and the Bold , seeing Jaime as a relatable teen arguing with the sentient suit that gives him his powers, his New 52 line had already been cancelled. Then Geoff Johns wrote Rebirth and added a little scene with Jaime Reyes that I thought was both very interesting and promising. In short, Keith Giffen doesn't deliver in this volume until issue #6, where he kind of gives a small splice of what the series could be. Getting the obvious out of the way, the dialogue here is absolutely horrible. I tell myself it feels like a first draft, but then there are moments of repetition and sentences upon sentences of nothing going on. By then, it feels more like a very bloated outline with the characters speaking mostly hot air. The dialogue here isn't flat, it's completely empty. This, in turn, makes all the charac...

Kevin Lau

Search This Blog