4. The audience must know the end battle is real.

This is something many of you won’t be able to accept, but it is just plain true. This is likely the most controversial part of the article, but it just has to be this way. The audience must know that the end battle is real and not just a video game. It just won’t be effective otherwise. Ender should not know, of course, but a “twist ending” just won’t be suspenseful enough to make an audience care. Maybe I’m wrong, but this is likely the conclusion they’ve made back at the movie’s head quarters.

How else would they justify having a grandiose conclusion with million of dollars and special effects? If Ender’s Game is merely a set-up for a Shyamalan twist, then I’ve been regarding it with too high esteem. The novel’s ending is powerful, and will be even more so if we know, because we care deeply about Ender and his friends. The whole point of “suspense” is the audience understands information that the characters do not. The novel works in its own way because it is a novel. Not a movie.

How this information would given to the audience is not something I can go into too much. There are just too many ways. I always fall back on Bean knowing the mission is going to be real long before the final battle, maybe something could be done there?

I could go on and on about why this should happen, but it just would be redudant. Suspense is built on audience information. The audience has to know the human race is on the line. They have to. Otherwise it will just feel like a video game, like it does to Ender.

What do you ladies and gentleman think? I tried my best to keep everything chill and as reasoned as I could. I think we can all agree we just want the movie to be great and what we’ve all dreamed about. Leave me a comment and tell me where I’m wrong, right, off the mark, etc.