For those of you who have not read the novel or the three sentence synopsis provided by Fandango, Ender’s Game is a sci-fi film that revolves around a futuristic world in which Earth is at war with aliens. In order to eradicate the potential extinction of the human race, the International Military must seek out bright, young minds. They take interest particularly in a boy named Ender Wiggin, who is later recruited into the program and trained to command the entire army and lead humans to victory.

Sophomore Jacqueline Chuang, who did not read the book, thought the film was “exhilarating to see, though the ending was confusing”. Junior Gauri Patkar, who also did not read the novel, agrees with Jacqueline on her stance about the ending.

As a person who has read the novel and very much enjoyed it, I was quite surprised with how condensed and rushed the film was. More time was put into the action-packed graphics of the war instead of the significance behind each event that led up to it. The movie did not seem to care much for the message behind Ender’s Game which revolves around the psychological damage of warfare. Many, especially those who did not read the novel, did not understand this aspect that affected Ender as well as his personality, which consisted of  seemingly endless compassion and empathy for others, which although briefly stated in one or two sentences within the film, was the reason behind Ender’s victories in many of his battles.