On Saturday, I went to see the movie City of Ember for the Lit Flicks Challenge. I’m not a movie critic, so I’m mostly going to review the movie from the adaptation standpoint. Thus, *SPOILERS*, of necessity, appear in this review.
For another critique of the movie, see my brother’s review here. My review of the book can be found here.
Now, the movie. I liked it. It was, in general, a faithful adaptation of the book. The major change was the beginning. The movie opens with the Builders. It’s the end of the world, and the Builders, the world’s foremost engineers and scientists, have created the City of Ember with the hope that the human race will survive. Ember is deep underground. This, of course, is kind of a major twist at the end of the book.
Despite the changed beginning, the rest of the movie is much the same as the book. Lina and Doon have just graduated from the City of Ember school system and received their work assignments: Messenger and Pipeworker. They seem to be the only ones concerned that the supplies – most dangerously the generator – of Ember is dwindling. They use their respective jobs to try and find a way out. Then Lina discovers the box with instructions from the Builders, unfortunately chewed up by her little sister Poppy, and they race against time and the greedy mayor to figure them out and save Ember.
The actors who played Lina and Doon, Saoirse Ronan (14) and Harry Treadaway (24), were a little older than the age prescribed by the book (12), but they were both excellent. Bill Murray played the part of the mayor well, and Tim Robbins was good as Doon’s dad. I have no complaints about the acting. Also, I have little to no complaints about the set design. They created Ember! That alone is reason to go see this movie. The exit from Ember is, of course, Hollywoodized and more complicated than necessary, but it gets the job done. And the ending was downright touching.
In all, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and particularly enjoyed seeing Ember come to life.
Buy City of Ember
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Oh, I was hoping this would be good. I might wait until this hits the cheap tickets, but I’m sure I’ve got a few friends I can drag to it.
Also… 24??? I know we’re used to seeing 2o-odd people playing high school kids, but I don’t think 12-year-old Doon should be shaving!
I too looked up the actor that played Doon was shocked to realize he was 24. Sheesh!
I thought the whole ending was changed. The clues were all completely different, and the way they ended up getting out was all different. And what’s with that monster in the pipeworks? Was there a monster in the book? I don’t remember one! However, I enjoyed the movie just the same. It did bug me that they gave away the underground thing right at the front. Oh, well.
I enjoyed this series. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but the sets look cool in the previews.
I haven’t read this book, but the premise of it sounded interesting. I don’t think Hollywood generally quite knows how to turn a beloved children’s book into a movie. They tend to focus on the visuals and forget about the plotting basics.
I haven’t read the book so for me it is a brand new experience but for my fellow friends they got it boring. But I think whether I have read it early I may enjoy it. Certain things to remember grate camera work also http://www.80millionmoviesfree.com helps me to have good picture quality even I watch it at home
I just finished the book last night, and checked out the trailer online today. It looks like they seriously expanded the role of Doon’s father and filled and added to bring a somewhat short book to a feature film length. I was also pretty confused about the casting, but maybe they think they’ll ultimately appeal to a larger demographic? Not sure, but once my third daughter finally reads the book, we’ll probably head out and see this as a family. Glad you got to see it and liked it!
Haven’t watch this movie yet. How long is the movie? Let see where can I watch this for free…hehe ;)
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