Platypuschow
This infamous box office failure is one of those films I never fancied and after finally giving it a chance I understand why.With a fantastic cast including Bill Murray, Tim Robbins and Saoirse Ronan this family friendly adventure tale tells the story of an underground society governed my a selfish greedy Mayor who is hiding several truths from his people.Bill Murray feels wasted, considering he's the movies antagonist he is barely present and when he is it feels like the role could have been given to anybody.Ronan is great as always the same as Robbins, but a stellar cast couldn't save City Of Ember.It's not that it's a bad film, it's just too far from being a good one. The story is played out poorly, it all looks kind of hokey and in my opinion it needed to be longer.City Of Ember was a huge commerical bust and lost its studio a fair few pennies, I'm sure that the fans of the book were not happy either.The Good:Very impressive castThe Bad:Looks worse than it shouldMurray is wastedThings I Learnt From This Movie:I want a giant moth
NateWatchesCoolMovies
If H.P. Lovecraft, Guillermo Del Toro, and Tim Burton all sat down, had a few beers and wrote a post apocalyptic children's story book, it would look something like City Of Ember, a magnificent, underrated dystopian fable. It concerns a world ravaged by some horrible nuclear calamity, the sparse remnants of humanity forced into an underground city thousands of miles below the earth's surface. Now, this ain't no Fallout. The brutality and desperation that usually characterize the post apocalyptic sub genre are breezily absent. Humanity, although relegated to an existence alike to that of a groundhog or mole, have more or less made peace with their predicament, and live a very pleasant subterranean life, making the best of what they have and keeping their industry thriving, for the most part. Saoirse Ronan is Lina Mayfleet, a vivacious young girl just coming into her own, marvelling at the wonders of her vast underground city, and wondering about the marvels that potentially lie beyond, or specifically, above it. The adults in her world are more or less settled in their ways. But the great generators which power the City Of Ember have begun to fail, threatening darkness for everyone. The corrupt mayor (a perfectly sleazy Bill Murray) could give a crap and is content to steal all the wealth for himself. It's up to Lina and her close friend Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) to use ancient clues left by benevolent ancestors in an attempt to reach the surface of the earth and save their species. It's a terrific adventure, with care and thought put into the special effects. The climate further into the centre of the earth causes the wildlife to grow exponentially in size, and we are treated to stunning visuals of this, such as a huge golden moth the size of a Volkswagen. There's great support from actors including Tim Robbins, Mary Kay Place, Martin Landau, Toby Jones and Simon Kunz, that adorable butler from The Parent Trap, stealing scenes as a fatherly employment official. The film was shot in the same shipyard which the Titanic was constructed in, now converted into the largest soundstage in the world. You really get a sense of vastness and large scale isolation from such a method, drawing you into the character's environment all the more. Highly recommended.
rajatdahiyax
City of Ember is a 2008 British-Irish-American science fiction fantasy film based on the 2003 novel The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. It was directed by Gil Kenan from a screenplay by Caroline Thompson, and stars Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway, Bill Murray, Mackenzie Crook, Martin Landau, Mary Kay Place, Toby Jones and Tim Robbins. It was released in October 2008, just two months after the release of the final book in the series; The Diamond of Darkhold. For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing... and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever.
