Almost three decades later, the classic novel Ender’s Game finally hits the big screen. Based on the 1985 science-fiction novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, the film portrays a futuristic world lead by a militaristic government that trains young children to fight the extraterrestrials known as the Formics, in order to protect the planet from another alien invasion. Humanity has united around a sole purpose to protect their planet from another alien invasion exhibited through the periodic sight of the line “Never Again” throughout the film.

The military dictatorship recruits the utmost intelligent and outstanding children to train in battle school, as a strategic means to raise a team of fighters to defeat the Formics. The moral obscurities of this ruling become critical as we see Ender Wiggin, age twelve in the film, brutally attack a child who tormented him. His reasoning is so the bully never has a chance to hurt him again, which is encouraged by the military leaders as they want to ensure the children sent to battle school will defeat the aliens so they will never invade again.

Colonel Graff, played by Harrison Ford, sees much potential in Ender Wiggin, played by Asa Butterfeild, and believes that Ender could be the child to lead them through battle, as he closely examines Ender first on Earth and then in the outer space battle school in which they train in a giant clear dome-like room looking out at space at zero gravity.

The acting by Butterfeild, Ender Wiggin, and Ford, Colonel Graff, compliments each other well, as the majority of the movie is focused on them. However, there was a lack of character development in the rest of the cast, which resulted in a mediocre performance, but it did not take away from the film.

Understandably, many scenes in the book had to be cutout in order for the novel to fit into the time span of a two-hour film. For example, the film did not spend a great deal of time on Ender’s training as the novel did, so Ender seemed to miraculously achieve a rapid success, but the pace still seemed to even out throughout the film.

Overall, Ender’s Game is an enjoyable film and fans of the book will most likely be satisfied with the outcome. Although the film seems geared towards younger ages, its special effects and the story line’s captivating issue of morality makes it entertaining for everyone.