Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

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

Python Hyena City of Ember (2008): Dir: Gil Kenan / Cast: Harry Treadaway, Saoirse Ronan, Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau: Stunning futuristic adventure displays a decaying underground society. Mankind is forced to progress underground for 200 years. A box contains the count down and instructions on how to surface. This box is passed down from Mayor to Mayor with instructions given but the last Mayor died suddenly leaving everything forgotten. Harry Treadaway accepts a job on the pipeline in hopes of locating the failing generator. He is joined by Saoirse Ronan whose grandfather was the last Mayor to obtain the box. They had originally swapped jobs to further their talents but as time runs out they grow closer to figuring out a way to escape the city. Bill Murray plays current Mayor who is stealing food and making false promises. The consequences for this arrive at the mutation of the normal. Tim Robbins plays Treadaway's inventor father who is too busy yet has ideas. He will soon have to listen to his son's facts about above ground. Martin Landau plays a mentor to Treadaway who also works in the pipe areas. This should appeal to family audiences looking for adventure as director Gil Kenan delivers on inventive ideas to this underrated film. Good clean fun full of visual spectacular, which prevents the film from decaying like Ember itself. Score: 10 / 10

Johan Dondokambey As with most movies based on dystopia world novels, this movie presents a unique world setting that gives the main characters their unique background and conflict that they strive to resolve. The art direction and production designing are done beautifully to complement what's being told by this movie. Also the movie put enough time to elaborate on the story's uniqueness; about the hierarchy, the division of the population, the certain resources the world needs and the critical conflict that looms to be resolved. Yet until the movie's end there seem to be one too many questions left unanswered, like the reason why the animals grew so big in the world, other ways to get out of the city (since the gopher can find it's way in whereas it would need fresh air to breathe too). The acting overall is not really a great job, even with big names such as Bill Murray and Tim Robbins in the cast list. Saoirse Ronan was still at the developing stages of her acting, while Harry Treadaway didn't have any notable acting career advancement after his not so good performance here. Bill Murray and Tim Robbins are very much underutilized here while Toby Jones here also didn't get much trust to play any greater part.

MrGKB ...but it never really bursts into flame in this adaptation of a somewhat popular young adult novel. Someone was obviously hoping to establish a new franchise to be exploited ala Harry Potter or the Twilight series, but alas, it was not to be, Tom Hanks support or not; "City of Ember" bombed at the box office. Problem: it's a mite too derivative (see other commentaries elsewhere) and a little too low-key for its own good. Saoirse "Hanna" Ronan is likable enough in the lead, but her co-star, Harry "Control" Treadaway, seems more of a cipher, leaving the audience somewhat indifferent to what happens to either of them, or anyone else in their poorly designed underground haven, for that matter.Sadly, there are just a few too many "Say whats?" and "Oh, c'mons!" in the scenario to allow discerning viewers to relax and enjoy willing suspension of disbelief. Underground quarters dedicated to the survival of the human race with one power source and no back-ups? How do they control their population? What happened to cultural/scientific progress/evolution? What about those ridiculous giant creatures? Job assignments by random lottery---really? That's incredibly inefficient, if not downright stupid. A lockbox with the key to eventual exit from this survival colony with no failsafe, entrusted to a single person--- really? An escape route that goes down, down, down and then forces everyone to climb up, up, up? Sadly, if one thinks too hard about the whole thing, it's just incredibly silly. None of these people remember the past? No one kept a history? And where's all the advanced machinery that ought to be running this little community? Did technology just sort of wither away? Very, very poor planning on the part of "The Builders," methinks.In its defense, "City of Ember" sports some sporty Brazil-castoff production/set design and costuming, and decent camera-work from sophomore director Gil Kenan's collaborator, Xavier Pérez "Monster House" Grobet, so I have at least mild hopes for Kenan's upcoming remake of "Poltergeist." Nonetheless, "City of Ember" fails to ignite any great sparks, and seems unlikely to spawn any sequels. This is likely a good thing. Meanwhile, folks like Bill Murray, Mary Kay Place, Toby Jones, Martin Landau, and Liz Smith take paychecks. I guess that's a good thing, too.Okay for the kiddies who may not have sufficient film/book experience to distinguish the mundane from genuine inspiration, but otherwise little more than just another example of Sturgeon's Revelation. Discriminate viewers can pass this one up and suffer no great loss.