City Of Ember – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

cityofember

For the people of the city of Ember, they have lived in their underground world for 200 years. But now the ancient city is beginning to fall apart around them. Too bad the plan on how to leave the underground city was lost nearly fifty years earlier. Now it’s up to two kids, Lina and Doon (Saoirse Ronan and Harry Treadaway), to unravel the mystery of Ember and save their society.

This is a cute kids film with a nice mix of fantasy and mystery to keep the younger audience intrigued and engaged, but the many plot holes and logical missteps will lose the adults.

By all means this a fantastic looking film. City Of Ember is very well designed and realized. You really feel like this is an underground city and it’s falling down around these people which adds a nice level of imminent danger to the story.

The story is interesting, but (and this is not having read the book on which it’s based) it feels like there is probably a lot lost in the adaptation. There is a lot of story to squeeze into an hour and a half and at times the film just seems to skip ahead to the next important moment leaving unexplained gaps. You don’t get lost or anything but certain moments make you pause and scratch you head and it takes you out of the story for a second.

The biggest flaw of City of Ember is the lack of a clear villain. Bill Murray as the selfish mayor is by no means a nice guy but he never directly stands in the way of the kids ultimate goal. He actually has no idea what they’re up to and his final demise has nothing to do with them and they aren’t even aware that it is happening. He does pose a threat but it is minimal and in the end he is just there to provide one more piece to their puzzle. And what is any film, especially in the fantasy realm, without a clear and memorable villain?

Ronan and Treadaway a pretty good young actors and carry the film rather well. It also helps that they’ve surrounded these kids with a fantastic supporting cast including Bill Murray as the selfish mayor, Tim Robbins as Doon’s dad, Martin Landau as Sul, an old men who helps the kids out and Mary Kay Place as Lina’s caretaker. They all add a certain legitimate level to the film that helps the adults get through the film.

This is a pretty film and it’s an interesting story, but it still seems to be lacking that certain something. If you have kids, odds are they’re really going to enjoy it and luckily the film is good enough that you’re not going to be totally bored to tears as you watch it along with them.

The film is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. No matter what you think of the content, this is a fantastic-looking film. It looks and sounds great. This is the kind of film you want to turn all the lights in the house off to watch so you can enjoy the atmosphere of the film.

This is an utterly barren DVD and at a retail price of $29.99 there is just no reason for that.

I can’t recommend buying this film, but if you have kids it’s probably worth renting. If you want to see it just because you’re a Bill Murray fan like I did, you’ll probably be disappointed. Sure he’s pretty good in it, but his character isn’t all that interesting and he’s not in it enough to sit through the film for that reason alone. It’s probably a step above most kid’s films out there today, but it’s still a kid’s film. It certainly doesn’t transcend the genre like The Goonies. If you do want to buy the film, I’d hold out for a two-disc edition that is most likely on it’s way. With a special effects film like this there is always behind the scenes stuff to share with the audience.

………………………………………


20th Century Fox presents City Of Ember. Directed by Gil Kenan. Written by Caroline Thompson. Based on the novel by Jeanne Duprau. Running time: 95 minutes. Rated PG for mild peril and some thematic elements. Released on DVD: January 20, 2009. Available at Amazon.com.

Mike Noyes received his Masters Degree in Film from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. A few of his short films can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikebnoyes. He recently published his first novel which you can buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Years-Mike-Noyes-ebook/dp/B07D48NT6B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528774538&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+days+seven+years