Review by Patrick Hodges This story, based on the bestselling book by Jeanne Duprau, proffers an interesting premise: civilization has ended (what causes this end is never explained), and a vast underground city – known as Ember - has been constructed so that mankind will be able to survive while whatever calamity that has befallen Earth’s surface has the chance to repair itself. A timetable of 200 years is set, and instructions for how to leave the city and return to the surface are sealed in a case and given to the first Mayor of Ember. Unfortunately, over the decades the case and the significance of its contents are lost. Much, much later, everything in Ember is approaching total collapse: food supplies are dwindling, the city’s pipes are springing leaks almost hourly, and the generator responsible for all of Ember’s power is starting to fail. When the case and its instructions for possible salvation fall into the hands of a girl named Lina (Atonement’s Saoirse Ronan), she and her friend Doon (Harry Treadaway) make the mistake of taking their find to Ember’s current mayor (Bill Murray), who is perfectly content to smile his politician’s smile, gobble down what food he can find for himself, and basically fiddle while Rome burns. Bottom line: City of Ronan and Treadaway make decent enough protagonists, shouldering the burden of their entire society while dodging the mayor’s goons, some really creepy animal nasties and, let’s face it, a complete lack of knowledge for what they might find if they get where they’re going. There is a fair amount of drama, tense action and mild scares, just barely enough to make the film recommendable. But it won’t end up on anyone’s “Best of the Year” list. My guess is, six months from now, few people will even remember it. I have read several reviews suggesting a parallel between the direness of Ember’s situation and that of 3 / 5 stars |
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