City of Ember (2008)

Please don't spend money on this.

best movie i've ever seen.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The ending when they climb up to the real world !! WOW just WOW !!!

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.

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.

This movie starts out okay, but later on not so much. While the two main characters are trying to find their way out of the city it obviously can't be too easy for them. I get that this is the whole point of the movie. However, this is the type of movie where the characters make such stupid decisions you find yourself yelling at them for most of the last half. Some people may find this suspenseful, but I ended up wishing they would just die so it will all be over. In the end I fast forwarded when I couldn't take it any more, but found myself too invested to just turn it off. Simple and predictable, but sadly I've seen much worse.