City Of Ember (and Giant Moths For Some Reason)

Having thought that I heard only bad things about City Of Ember I stayed away, and after watching it last night I have no idea why (or even who would say such things about the film). To catch some people up, City Of Ember was based on the book The City Of Ember (see what they did there?). Both the book and the movie are about a city built underground by scientist/construction workers where they set up a civilization free from the war (?) that plagues everyone above ground, and they install an exit strategy that is to be performed after 200 years (a safe time they thought). As things happen in books, movies, and life in general, the plans were ‘lost.’ We are then brought into a crumbling, fading city run by corrupt politicians and into the lives of two kids who want to escape. These two kids, Doone and Lina, stumble onto the box and the mystery of whether or not there is a way out.

The first negative thing that I noticed was the 3D animation wasn’t the best… the water wheel and the giant mole were most noticeably not up to par (and a little slimy (not they looked slimy, it’s more of a feeling)). Secondly I felt that I was missing out on some things that I could have used to get more out of the movie (like I wanted to know more on how the government runs the city, or what happens after the end (I really want to know what happens next, it wasn’t enough for me)); but maybe I just need to read the book, we’ll see. The most noticeable thing about the movie overall was the fact that it tried to be both a mystery and an action film and was not able to both them both off at the same time. The movie could have been more suspenseful, or had more of an ‘oomph;’ I just wish they went with one direction and stuck to it.

Now that the nasty business is over with, we can get to the stuff that I really enjoyed. First and foremost, the civilization (their tools, cloths, social norms and interactions, ect.) was wonderfully realized. Like I said, I want to know more, and that’s a good thing too; as I am actually hungry for more information on a fictional civilization, which means that the author did a good job (at least with what I saw). Likewise, the set and costuming was amazing. The wear and tear (very important to any realistic design) was great; good examples of this would be the patches and rust on the pipes in the background of some scenes. I loved looking at the city, and I’m glad I did. Finally, the actors and actresses were great. Everyone from the kids to Bill Murray (who actually didn’t go over the top (as I know him to do) with his portrayal of the mayor) had great performances, and special brownie points to Tim Robbins, who played Doone’s father (you’ll know which scene he gets bonus points for when you see it). All in all, I had a good time, but if it wanted to be a better movie it should have picked a genre to major in.

Judgment: 3.5 Light bulbs out of 5