DVD Review: City of Ember - Page 2

The people of Ember, however, embody a collective disillusionment. Their mayor (Bill Murray) espouses unity and courage, yet drinks from the cup of corruption once he steps back behind his veil. Devout believers in the Builders wander the streets singing hymns, yet most of the city’s inhabitants believe the Builders abandoned them. Food is in short supply, and the city is cursed by frequent blackouts that last longer and longer. The quest to find a way out becomes a linchpin to the narrative—the Builders never abandoned them; they left instructions.

The plot garners all the magic of modern mythmaking—new beginnings, transcendence, courage, and conviction. The filmmakers fail, however, in not taking enough time to unfold its developing themes, and linger on their inherent beauty. Not that the film looks bad—cinematographer Xavier Perez Grobet lifts Ember right off the pages of Duprau’s book, lighting the city’s interior with bright phosphorescent yellow, contrasted with the deep black of the city’s dark outskirts.

Director Gil Kenan (Monster House) lends some competence to the film’s shortcomings. He knows the value of the landscape of a character’s face, but spends too much time setting up pay-offs that end too soon. His cast, however, delivers. Bill Murray downshifts his antics and delivers a surprisingly subtle villain, and Tim Robbins channels a little of Andy DuFresne’s meticulous patience.

Saoirse Ronan (who earned an Oscar nom for her work in Atonement) is an actress to watch. While Ember never really gives her a chance to stretch her legs, at 14 years old, she’s already learned that her eyes convey the best body language.

Duprau’s novel is a visual, imaginative splendor, and a ripe candidate for screen adaptation, particularly for Walden Media. And while City of Ember certainly falls among the better entries in the Walden canon, it still cannot maintain the grasp needed to carry the weight of creating a modern myth.

This single disk DVD package contains both the widescreen and full screen versions, and minimal special features.

Article Author: Travis Johnson

Travis Johnson is a freelance writer in Colorado Springs, and spends most of his time writing magazine features or grant proposals. He also blogs about the movies, and is hard at work writing his first novel.

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