City of Ember DVD Review
Directed by: Gil Kenan
Written by: Caroline Thompson (screenplay), Jeanne Duprau (book)
Starring: Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Harry Treadaway, Saoirse Ronan, Toby Jones, Martin Landau, Mary Kay Place

City of Ember is a movie that skipped through theatres so quickly last year that I doubt many people even knew it existed. Looking back at the release calendar from last October, it seems reasonable to assume that the film just got lost among the flurry of other major releases that month. And yet, there was almost no direct competition within that particular demographic, and for a family film that was produced by Walden Media (the makers of The Chronicles of Narnia films) and starring Bill Murray, you’d think there would have been a little more buzz. So, is City of Ember an overlooked gem, or does it actually deserve to be ignored and forgotten?

Well, judging by this barebones DVD release, it’s clear that Fox never had much faith in the movie to begin with. Sadly, I can kind of see why. Even with an intriguing concept and a talented production team, City of Ember never quite manages to take flight. For the most part, it’s a well-made film, but it lacks any of the excitement or flair needed to make it stick.

Based on the Mark Twain Award-winning children’s book by Jeanne Duprau, City of Ember takes place in a man-made city that is surrounded by darkness. The entire settlement runs on an underground generator, and its inhabitants are not aware anything existing outside of the city. As the story picks up, frequent power outages are becoming a major problem and the city is on the brink of disaster. When twelve-year old Lina Mayfleet stumbles across a mysterious box in her home, she unwittingly unlocks the secret to saving her people, but she must fight corruption within Ember’s city council in order to help everyone escape from the darkness.

The movie is directed by Gil Kenan, who previously did the fantastic CG film Monster House. Much like Monster House, City of Ember has a vague ’80s nostalgia feel to it, reminiscent at times of adventure flicks like The Goonies. What City of Ember lacks, however, are compelling characters and the true spirit of exploration and intrigue. There is a solid “us vs them” dynamic in place, with the kids rebelling against adults who are just blindly following the rules, but it feels like everything they need to save the day is simply handed to them on a silver platter. The giant mole monster that they encounter about halfway through the movie was clearly an attempt to add some much-needed action, but you can tell it wasn’t in the original book because it just feels so random.

The two main child stars, Harry Treadaway and Saoirse Ronan (who many will remember as young Briony Tallis from Atonement), are capable actors, but they somehow lack charm here. It’s not entirely their fault, as the whole film has a very “doom and gloom” atmosphere. With panic setting in among the citizens, the kids don’t ever really have the opportunity to let loose and have fun (although Treadaway’s character Doon is pretty damn serious from the get go). For this reason alone, I feel like City of Ember could have used a little bit of the Spielberg touch. Even Bill Murray fails to summon any energy on screen, although admittedly he was not cast as comic relief in this particular case.

Kenan’s CG experience definitely paid off in terms of managing the ambitious production design for the city itself. Digital environments mesh seamlessly with massive physical sets that were built to bring Ember to life. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the actual art design to be all that interesting to look at, and for the most part, it all felt a bit too much like a set. The world doesn’t necessarily feel lived in, and the actors seem out of place interacting with the things around them.

Perhaps my biggest complaint about City of Ember is that there are no real surprises, and no plot twists that you don’t see coming from a mile away. I don’t know why they decided to open the film with a voiceover narration sequence that explains the entire origin story of Ember (it may have been taken straight from the book), but it almost instantly dispels all of the mystery surrounding the Builders. I was also disappointed that the end of the film never really rewards the viewer with more information about what they find. After all the build up, the movie just sort of… ends, with very little pay off.

Another major disappointment is the lack of extras on the DVD, considering all the behind-the-scenes production work and the big ideas at work in the movie. Some decent supplementary material could have at least salvaged the film, but instead we are left with nothing more than a few promotional trailers. (The UK release of the film will supposedly have some making-of featurettes, however.)

I guess I was just expecting more from City of Ember. Technically speaking, it’s a post-apocalyptic sci-fi story, which is a genre that almost always gets a free pass from me. I’m all for family films with ambitious adult themes, but there’s not enough eye candy for the kids, and not enough meat and potatoes for the grown-ups. Ember is mediocre with a capital “M”. — Sean

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