Smoldering Embers

Secrets hidden away. Races with time. Government conspiracies. These Hollywood cards, each worth so many dollars in the minds of screenwriters, are pulled out of the hat far too often. They’ve even begun to infiltrate children’s films, though, as usually happens when an adult theme is modified for kids’ stories, the result is generally less intriguing than the adult equivalent. No film expresses this pathetic trend better than the Walden Media release City of Ember.

Born and raised in the underground city of Ember, Lina Mayfleet wants nothing more in life than to fly over the broken cobbles of the streets with the speed of electricity. After trading her assigned job at the pipeworks with classmate Doon for his job as a messenger, she continues on in her humdrum existence. That is until the power of their underground city begins to fail, when Lina and Doon find themselves caught up in a whirling race with opposing forces to try to find the way out of their decaying city.

But it wasn’t merely the city that was decaying. The whole script was. For a story that is rather over-used to begin with, the screenplay needed to be exceptionally fine in order to succeed. But almost immediately, the script lost touch with the viewer, and it limped along its 90-minute span, progressing from crisis to crisis for lack of anything better to do. It was incredibly rushed, copying Lina’s desire for speed, and yet ironically, the continual barrage of crises made the film really begin to lag by midway. Towards the very end of the film, I found myself saying, “Another important moment. So exciting. How much longer is this thing gonna take?”

The few engaging scenes were due only to the good acting of Saoirse Ronan (Atonement star and rising actress) as Lina. She brought the little charm there is to be found in the film with her cheery face and energy. The rest of the actors, lacking anything substantial to work with, stood around waiting for a miracle. Even the great Bill Murray looked lost, confused, and helpless.

It’s sad, because I really did want to like the film. I support Walden Media and their message. I like to find movies to show to my brother and sister. And though its content really wasn’t too bad, City of Ember, with its weak story and much weaker script, didn’t pass muster. Don’t waste your time on this movie; imagine the underground darkness of the Mines of Moria with a weaker version of National Treasure, and several touches from the book The Giver, and you’ve got it. We’d better let the embers of this one burn out.