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Such a frustrating disappointment

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

For some reason after we took the state exams when I was in the 8th grade we had to watch this movie. I think I almost preffered taking the exam as opposed to this garbage. The effects are bad. The story is convoluted and stupid. The acting is bad. Everything about this movie is cheesy and dumb and boring. I would not recommend this movie.

The sets are beautiful and the acting is very good (I am very critical of child/teen actors in general but the main characters were great fits for their roles). The movie is slightly cartoonish in the exaggerated stereo-types shown. The world they inhabit is simplistic and the people are mostly friendly and helpful to each other. It is not a dark movie despite the ominous feelings of doom approaching. The lead up is rushed and I'm not sure if really young viewers would get the gist of what's going on. The rest of the story-line is easy to follow and interesting enough to engage all age groups. Some of the action sequences didn't make a lot of sense which I forgave. I just let logic go at some point near the end and enjoyed the experience.The giant mutated animals had no explanation, and didn't progress the story-line at all. I'm pretty sure they could have been dispensed with. I also thought the escape route wouldn't be the most efficient way to evacuate an entire population.Forget that stuff if you can and you'll enjoy the ride.

City of Ember, the film, has an entertaining story, a deluxe cast, fantastic production design, music and atmosphere, and it is certainly a good family movie.I expect, and it's understandable, that some changes are to be made to adapt any book to the big screen, as a book narrative and pace aren't always good for a film. However, I expect those changes to be respectful with the original and within the spirit of the original. Well, the script does just the contrary, killing anything good that the story had for the sake of nothing, including unnecessary bizarre modifications and characters that add nothing to the story, and transform a multi-layered novel into a simplistic action/escape film.One of the most exciting things in the book is discovering the mystery as the same pace the main characters do: discovering that Ember is an underground city, discovering that the message in the box is from the Builders themselves, and so on. Well, the first five minutes of the film reveal just that upfront to you, so part of the mystery is destroyed on purpose at the beginning. What was the scriptwriter thinking?!!!! If this wasn't enough, the novel is remarkably metaphorical; think about the Plato's Cave allegory, think of the underground as the land of the subconscious, think of a cave as the motherly womb, and so on. I understand that metaphors of this sort do not translate well into a family fun film, but producing a less simplistic film would have shown viewers that the story is not all what it seems and that there is more for them to uncover.Finally, the actors'talent is wasted mostly because it's impossible to do wonders with the material or direction they've been given. One of the most remarkable exceptions is Martin Landau as Sul, who is great despite his character being very secondary and having barely any line in the film.Overall, this is an enjoyable movie, but has little to do with the original in message and meaning. Just the surface of the story has been scratched, and not always in a respectful way.

If you've seen any sci-fi film or TV show, you can not only plot out everything this film does, but cite where others have done it better. I feel like the book writer must have seen all the worst versions of this story and set a plan to make the worst version, yet. I've seen this plot at least a dozen times -- Logan's Run, for starters -- a terribly camp, ridiculous 70s film that, due to it's terrible campness, is quite fun. Guess it goes to prove -- if you can change just enough things from the original that you steal it from, it's not 'stealing'. Just watch Logan's Run. At least it's enjoyable terribleness.This was absolutely dreadful, I cannot believe how bad this was. The first half wasn't alarmingly dreadful, but it just spiralled down very quickly. The ONLY thing that is worth a compliment is the main actress, Saoirse Ronan, she was quite good and held a quite terrible film up higher than it really should be.