For generations the people of the city of ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But embers once powerful generator is failing .. And the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 01/20/2009 Starring: Tim Robbins Saoirse Ronan Run time: 123 minutes Rating: PgLight bulbs speckle the sky instead of stars in City of Ember, a fantasy in which a secret city has been built to preserve mankind from worldwide disaster. But over time, the purpose of the city is lost–and the city gradually decays. As power failures threaten to bring on the collapse of everything, young messenger Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan, Atonement) discovers damaged instructions for leaving the city. Her friend, pipeworker Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway, Brothers of the Head), helps her find the hidden mechanisms that will let everyone escape…but the city’s corrupt Mayor (Bill Murray) is more interested in personal gain and tries to stop Lina. City of Ember begins marvelously; the story unfolds smoothly, the production design is rich and engaging, the young leads are charming (Ronan is particularly good), and Murray is as superb as ever. Unfortunately, the movie starts to stumble; some plot turns are baffling (there seems to be some connective tissue left on the cutting room floor) and what should be an action climax flounders with subpar special effects. But even when the movie loses its sure-footedness, there are delightful moments and visual wonders. The strong supporting cast includes Tim Robbins, Mary Kay Place (Sweet Home Alabama), Mackenzie Crook (The Office), Toby Jones (Infamous), and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets & Lies). –Bret Fetzer
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March 5, 2010
#1
After seeing Saoirse Ronan’s performance in Atonement, I was disappointed to see how shallow her acting can be. None of the characters are multi-dimensional and the plot is very straight-forward, a little outlandish, and predictable. A good adventure movie for young kids though.
March 5, 2010
#2
This movie is a complete mess and I don’t even know where to start… Based on the book by Jeanne DuPrau. The characters were changed and meshed together, the storyline and plots were changed. Ugh, I am a huge fan of The books and I feel that whoever produced and directed this film should not be allowed to every do this again!
March 5, 2010
#3
I truly enjoyed the book, but the movie had some things to be desired. The characters were enjoyable, as was the set. There is one huge difference in the movie from the book and that is what ruins the movie. If you are interested in the difference, search for it online, I don’t want to give you a spoiler. Even with the issue in the movie, I would love to see a sequel. It seems however that the movie was not as popular as it could have been to warrant a sequel. The book is worth the read and if you enjoy it, I suggest buying the movie.
March 5, 2010
#4
A clear knock against all forms of conformity. The Christian religion (choral hymns are not associated with the other major religions – Islam, Buddhist, etc) and other standardized models of the norm are held in mild-to-outright contempt: business, government, even family takes a beating. ‘Ember’ revels in non-conformity, absolute reliance on personal vision and the inherent belief of the self.
The filmmakers achieve what so many on the left fail to do: Create a remarkably enjoyable film that seamlessly crafts the ‘message’ into the story, such that the story takes precedence. Check out ‘Rendition’ if you want to see fail, with a capital F example, of what not to do.
You really feel the strength of the characters, Lina and Doon, as the films heroes who are desperately trying to overcome the dogma and relentless acceptance of fate by seeing the world of Ember as inherently unnatural and wrong. Their adventurous spirit is what wins this film high praise.
Kudos to the director for crafting a very believable Dystopian landscape – the preformed plastic world that reeks of fear and the slow creep of decay is tangible and very real.
A genuinely good film. So much so that I’ve purchased the DVD for the collection.
I understand that this is part of a long series of novels which begins with ‘Ember’ – I hope the filmmakers get the opportunity to follow-up, perhaps even do a trilogy.
March 5, 2010
#5
Take what the naysayers say with a grain of salt, there’s always a group left bitter any time a book is adapted to film. What you get with City of Ember isn’t exactly what you get with the book, so it isn’t the greatest as far as an adaptation goes. You still get a movie that follows the themes and spirit of the book and brings the city to life, even if the story that’s told sees some changes. In all reality, this is still a more faithful adaptation than the Lord of the Rings films, which saw huge changes in spite of their acclaim (I still love those books and films as well).
This film creates a very intriguing steampunk styled world, which is a genre that gets very little attention in spite of its potential. We see a world that mixes both the old world and the modern world, and does so effectively. They did a fantastic job of bringing this world to life I though, which is quite an achievement considering everything that had to be created to do so. As far as the set and atmosphere is concerned, they did an amazing job, I can’t really fault them here.
As I mentioned though, the story sees a great deal of omissions and changes, even though the central concept and themes remain intact. As a translation of the book to the screen, I would probably say it is mediocre at best. As an adaptation of the book made for the screen, I would be much more forgiving. It’s not a perfect movie, but it isn’t terrible either, and I’m certain it will satisfy those looking for a good film for the family.
I’ve heard some comments about the acting, but I thought the performances were pretty impressive. Bill Murray makes a good villain, even though his role is fairly limited to a handful of scenes. Harry Treadaway does an admirable job playing Doon, and Tim Robbins does well playing his father in another limited role. I felt the star was Saoirse Ronan as Lina Mayfleet though, she did a terrific job playing the spirited young girl that is ultimately the center of the film. I think some of the complaints about her performance comes from the fact that Lina is almost the exact opposite type of character that Briony was in Atonement, so what you’re seeing is the same actress playing a completely different character. In the end, I thought it really demonstrated her fantastic range as I thought she pulled off the performance wonderfully. Martin Landau does a pretty good job in his minor role as well, playing the pipework Sul that Doon apprentices under.
The soundtrack is pretty good too, and might be worth a look for those who enjoy soundtracks. It’s a somewhat adventurous movie, so the score follows in that vein with a number of active themes, but also a good choice of slower themes as well.
I would say the most disappointing aspect of this DVD is the DVD release itself. It still uses the fairly outdated method of putting the fullscreen version on one side with the widescreen on the other. I personally hate this method as I find, no matter how well I care for it, the side I use less often ends up scratched. There’s also no special features on the disc either. They provide a couple trailers of other films to watch, but aside from that, there’s nothing. The days of trailer only features has long passed I thought, but apparently Fox is still living in the DVD dark ages.
All in all, it’s a worthy watch, and a somewhat short film. Some aspects do seem tossed in with little thought or care (giant animals and insects), but the core of the film is solid. If it’s a faithful translation of the book you want, you probably will be disappointed. If you haven’t read the book and just want a fun family movie though, then I’d say this one is worth giving a shot. The atmosphere and sets alone are worth seeing, and the performances are pretty good. The story has a few holes, and it probably would have been served well by adding another 20 minutes to fill some of them in, but overall it’s worth the watch unless you’re a purist fan of the books who can’t stomach the modifications.