11/24/2023 0 Comments City of ember ratedSaoirse Ronan, by virtue of her Best Supporting Actress nomination for Atonement, is the higher profile of the two. The film's stars are a pair of lesser-known actors whose careers are in ascent. There are also times when Ember feels like some kind of gigantic Rube Goldberg contraption, where it takes an exceedingly complicated number of steps to arrive at a relatively straightforward objective. The color palette is dominated by browns and other dull colors as a way of emphasizing how dreary life has become within what was once a technological marvel. The technology is a mix of pre-computer '50s and '60s engineering, with gears and motors dominating. The city is a cramped, claustrophobic place that owes a little to George Orwell and a little more to Terry Gilliam. The climactic 15 minutes involve a lot of action sequences, and there are times when it almost seems as if they have been designed with a future amusement park ride in mind.ĭirector Gil Kenan's ( Monster House) vision of Ember is inventive. The things that made the Nicolas Cage adventure so popular - finding clues and decoding puzzles - are in evidence here, although the running around doesn't seem quite as repetitious and pointless. The closer they get to the truth, however, the more dangerous they become to the city's corrupt mayor (Bill Murray), who determines they must be arrested lest they endanger a personal nest-egg he is feathering.Īspects of City of Ember make it seem like a futuristic version of National Treasure where the prize is the survival of the human race. It's up to Lina and Doon to unravel the puzzle. The builders of Ember didn't want the inhabitants leaving before an appointed time, so they safeguarded the route to the surface. But it's not as simple as opening a secret door. Following cryptic clues, Lina and Doon determine that the path to salvation leads to the outside world. Lina is a messenger and Doon is a pipe repairman, and both recognize that the city is in jeopardy. Two children - Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (Harry Treadway) - have become Ember's self-appointed saviors. The huge food storehouses are almost barren. The water supply pipelines are springing leaks. The generator that provides light, heat, and air to the city is experiencing frequent breakdowns. Now, after two centuries, Ember's infrastructure is beginning to fail. Ember is an underground city that was developed to provide sanctuary for the last of the human race after a catastrophe wiped out the inhabitants of the surface of the planet. The film takes place more than 200 years in the future. Overall, however, City of Ember will find favor with older children and their parents. The almost complete absence of transition scenes results in a flow that is occasionally choppy. Dialogue rarely accomplishes anything beyond advancing the plot. Exposition, when needed, is delivered briskly and with a minimum of irrelevant information. Recognizing that children often have limited attention spans, the filmmakers have endeavored to keep City of Ember moving. City of Ember has almost anything one could want from a science fiction-based family adventure film: likeable characters, an imaginative setting, and a fast pace.
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