Movie reviews Ender's Game, 31 and Evan Almighty from Soap2Day

Ender's Game, 2013

Let's take a closer look at the film adaptation of Orson Scott Card's novel "Ender's Game". It was this novel that won the Nebula and Hugo Awards in 1985 and 1986. Gavin Hood decided to make a film on this creation.

The plot of the film is built around the invasion of aliens (they are called "buggers"), who invaded the planet Earth several times. Millions of innocent people died in those days. In order to prevent a repeat invasion, the International Fleet of Earth decides from the very young childhood to find brilliant tacticians and strategists in order to grow qualified fighters out of them. The viewer watches a picture when a young guy named Ender (played by actor Asa Butterfield) is preparing at a fighter training school.

He was invited to this school by Officer Hiram Graff (played by Harrison Ford on Soap 2 day). Ender is not the first in his family to try to become an officer. Peter and Valentina tried themselves at the Combat School. Peter was expelled for cruelty, and Valentina turned out to be too soft for a bloody war. Ender was the third in the family, and he combined Peter's cruelty and Valentina's tact. At Battle School, Hiram subjects Ender to various tests to give him the status of "commander". Ender finds friends along the way, but there are also enemies. He tries not to sort things out by fighting, but there is practically no choice: all bullies need to be taught a lesson.

There is one peculiarity in this plot: Ender begins to have dreams where the queen of the "buggers" is present. She wants to show him something. Ender tries to understand why the army of "buggers", being on their planet, does not attack the Earth.

Ender is gradually promoted to a high level, thereby preparing for the role of fleet commander. This is a very difficult role. Ender on simulators shows his constant superiority in tactics. Now the role of the last exam has come, after which the answer will be clear: whether Ender will become a commander. At the last exam, Ender realizes that the opponent's army is too numerous. You need to act outside the box to win. Ender tactfully puts all the troops on the line to protect his main weapon – a deadly cannon ready to destroy even the planet. The planet is on fire after the final salvo. As soon as the game ends, the commanders are especially elated. Why are they so happy? The picture is back on the screen: the planet of the Buggers is all on fire. Ender's tears spill onto the floor: he had never wanted to disappear from this world so much. The last salvo was real.

«31» (2016)

To tell the truth, for a long time I could not forgive Rob Zombie for canceling concerts in Russia due to the fact that Maestro de urgently needed to start shooting another film. "Well, what the hell, but somehow it was impossible to plan your own schedule normally?!" - I thought. However, he consoled himself with the fact that Robert planned to dedicate his new movie to the legendary "bullies from Broad Street" - the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team, which staged a natural slaughter on the ice in the super series match against CSKA in 1976. After all, hockey is our everything... But here, too, I was disappointed: the project was shelved, without having had time to really start.

"There were too many things to coordinate, and I was not ready to spend five or seven years of my life on a film that I might not be allowed to shoot," Zombie explained this decision and switched to another slasher horror about maniac clowns with his wife in the title role. Actually, that's exactly what he ended up doing. The beautiful Sheri-Moon Zombie with five more companions falls into the trap of a group of perverts sadistic voyeurs who every Halloween arrange a "race for survival" with bets on the territory of an abandoned factory somewhere in the American south. A kind of cross between "House of 1000 Corpses" and "Running Man" with branded zombie dialogues, unappetizing sex, bawdy jokes and a Spanish-speaking dwarf Nazi in one of the key episodes. Probably, this is better than absolutely no "Lords of Salem", but obviously weaker than all the other Rob films, because it is secondary, predictable and not particularly funny (not to mention scary). In general, the tour was definitely not worth interrupting for this.

«Evan Almighty» (2007)

TV presenter Evan became a US congressman thanks to his promises to change the world. But from the very first days in power, he engaged in personal enrichment, spitting on all promises. Then a dark-skinned peasant in shining clothes appeared to Evan, called himself God and ordered him to build an ark. Any attempts to evade this mission turn into curiosities for Evan: then "all sorts of creatures in pairs" do not give him a pass, then a patriarchal beard grows, which no razor takes, then a fashionable suit is transformed into rags... Humor, of course, is childish. But "Evan the Almighty" is called a comedy just to distract the eyes, in fact it is a pamphlet with preaching ambitions. To resort in vain to biblical quotations, of course, is a bad thing. But what can you do: copyright does not apply to the Bible. Yes, the film can be accused of banality and pathos from scratch. One thing confuses on https://soap2day-1.day/- it is painfully similar in meaning to Tarkovsky's "Sacrifice". And one more thing: if you drop "Evan the Almighty" from the ark of modernity, do not forget to take the "Master and Margarita" to the pile.