Based on the classic novel by Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game is the story of the Earth's most gifted children training to defend their homeplanet in the space wars of the future.
There are times when a certain grimness weighs on the movie that you wish for more humor. But overall it's an absorbing and thought-provoking spectacle.
– Walter V. Addiego,
San Francisco Chronicle,
18 Nov 2013
rotten:
If you dislike child actors, you might derive a perverse satisfaction from seeing dozens of them look so unhappy to be onscreen.
– Ben Sachs,
Chicago Reader,
18 Nov 2013
fresh:
Straightforward, a bit literal-minded, very faithful to the book and largely compelling.
– Andrew O'Hehir,
Salon.com,
18 Nov 2013
fresh:
While the picture loses some plot tension by assuring the viewer that Ender is basically an okay kid, it gains by showing the growth of the boy into his destiny as "the One."
– Richard Corliss,
TIME Magazine,
19 Nov 2013
rotten:
Enough people attended Ender's Game last weekend to place it at the top of the box office. But could any of them have known how profoundly unspectacular an experience they were in for?