Ender’s game, a novel by Orson Scott Card and seen by many as one of the greatest science fiction works of all time. It was only a matter of time before a movie was set into development, the question is, can it be done correctly? In short, the answer is no.

For those unfamiliar, Ender’s Game is a film about child genius Ender Wiggin, and his rise to becoming commanding officer of Earth’s intergalactic fleet, to defeat a race of aliens known as the Formacs.

The film does a wonderful job of bringing the world of Ender’s game to life through some astonishing CGI. The  cadet training station, many space battles and the landscapes of alien worlds all look stunning and realistic. Additionally Ender’s Game brings out some grade A acting in the form Harrison Ford (Colonel Graff) and Ben Kingsley (Mazer Rackham) who both deliver very well done and thoughtful acting,

However, Ender’s Game will seem like an entirely different movie to someone who has read the book. Without spoiling anything, the film takes several major plot points from the book and either skips over them outright, or heavily edits them to tone down more mature themes. Additionally, the filmmakers took the creative liberty of adding a love interest into the film which feels extremely forced and actually ruins one of the book’s main messages.

So like any book to movie film, Ender’s Game cannot perfectly capture the thought provoking nature of its sci fi novel roots, but it can do a good job trying.