  
City of Embera.k.a. “Cidade de Ember,” “La Cité de l'ombre,” “Cidade das Sombras”MPAA Rating:
 for mild peril and some thematic elements.Reviewed by: Dymphna Meeds Good
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Kids, Family
Genre:
Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Length:
1 hr. 35 min.
Year of Release:
2008
USA Release:
October 10, 2008 (wide—2,000 theaters)
 
Relevant Issues
Darkness and light in the Bible 
“Escape is the only option.” “Imagine a town completely surrounded by darkness… the only light and heat coming from an aging power plant driven by a massive underground river.” This is how Fox-Walden describes their movie based on the award-winning book by Jeanne DuPrau. And indeed Ember is dark and growing more so every day. Ever since humans left the earth's surface, due to something huge, and retreated to Ember, things have gotten worse. Power outages happen every day and are growing longer each time. Although many refuse to believe, it seems that Ember's generator is dying. At least that is what Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) assume. When their worst fears are confirmed, Doon, Lina, and her younger sister Poppy (Amy Quinn and Catherine Quinn) embark on the greatest adventure of their lives! From an enjoyment point of view: This is an engaging movie. Although it moved rather fast, especially in the beginning, it provides adventurous moments, beautiful scenery and camera work, endearing characters, and perfect musical underscore! I thoroughly enjoyed the transformation from dark to light in this movie! It was inspiring and very sweet! I was kept on the edge of my seat the whole show, without being one bit frightened. PositivesThis whole movie is a transformation from dark to light in two different ways. First of all is the obvious plot line of Lina and Doon's journey for the light of the sun of our earth and out of the darkness of Ember. The audience and two heroes, along with a few others, know the danger the city is in and feel their pain. Like Lina and Doon, we, too, live in a world full of darkness where we must fight towards the light—the light of God. And, although our trials might be less visible to others, we battle just as great, if not greater, forces of evil in our lives that we must overcome with God's grace. The second transformation is from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge. Mayor Cole (Bill Murray) is unwilling to believe that his glorious city might ever be destroyed. He has convinced the people that nothing can hurt them. As Doon's manager Sul (Martin Landau) says “I don't know. It's not my job.” is what most of the citizens of Ember are living out in their lives. And to ensure that no one ever comes close to leaving Ember, the Mayor sets up strict rules. On the other hand, Doon's father Lorris Harrow (Tim Robbins) tells his son to “pay attention to everything and notice everything; then you'll know things no one else knows.” Doon follows his advice and searches for the truth. We should stretch our minds and fill them with knowledge and wisdom. As mentioned above, Lina and Doon search for the truth. They won't compromise their beliefs, just to follow the crowd. They are willing to risk their lives, well-being and freedom to find the truth and do the right thing. And speaking of risking things, every good character in this movie risks immensely for others. Although Doon sometimes goes a bit far by putting himself in grave danger and stealing things, he always returns the things, and his intentions are good; he is trying to save the human race. They are also fighting against a corrupt government, so many of the things that they do should have been legal, but were too restricted. Doon saves Lina from a giant mole moments before it eats her. Lina, on her part, works just as hard and tries to get help from Barton Snode (Toby Jones), the mayor's top man, when she finds out that his boss is corrupt. She also cares a lot for Poppy. And Poppy does her part by helping them solve some problems and by being sweet and cheerful. It is also very sweet to see the two older children carrying her throughout the movie. The grownups also play an important part in sacrificing themselves. The builders, for one, left clues for everyone and cared enough for humanity to help them. *SPOILER* When Lina, Doon and Poppy get to the room where the builders started, they see many signs about how to care for others (e.g. “Carry the babies”, “For the good of all mankind,” “No pushing,” etc.). *SPOILER OVER* Granny (Liz Smith) helps the girls get started with the box left by the builders. Farmer Clary (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) protects both children from the police, even though she knows she will be punished. Lina's father dies trying to find a way out. *SPOILERS* Lorris, at first, tries to discourage his son from finding a way out of Ember. However, we learn later it is because he tried to find a way before, with Lina's father, and doesn't want Doon to suffer the same death. Finally, he is willing to allow his son to work for the good of all and pretends to be deaf, giving Doon time to escape. He also launches himself against the policemen to protect his son. Sul also changes and is willing to put his life danger. He also stays behind, instead of insisting on coming to earth right away. In the very end, Doon ties the directions on how to leave Ember onto a rock and throws it back down. *SPOILERS OVER* Job assignments are drawn out of a hat when children reach a certain age. Although there is small chance of getting what one wants, everyone works hard. Every job is shown as important. Lina proudly carries messages, and Doon makes the best of working in the pipes. As Loris says, “It's not what you get; it's what you do with what you get.” Family life is shown in a very positive light. We see how much Poppy, Granny, and Lina love each other. Also we see how much the girls miss their parents; every night Lina plays her sister their answering machine with their parent's voices recorded. The Mayor’s selfishness and greed is shown for what it is. It doesn't try to make it look good in anyway. Doon helps a hurt moth. Resourcefulness is rewarded. And hope lives on in the end. *SPOILER* When the three first step out onto the earth, it is night, and so they think everything is dark. However, they wake up to see the sun rising and a blue sky. We also see how Loris picks up the rock with the directions on how to get out. *SPOILER OVER* Possible NegativesThis movie is rather suspenseful and dark. Part of this is the setting, but some of it is the plot and characters. However, most of it wasn't frightening. The scariest part of the movie is when a giant mole chases Lina and Doon. It almost eats both of them, but they escape. However, we see it about to eat someone else later on; we see them scream and then the mole's teeth. Although not scary or unexpected, it is rather disturbing when Lina and Poppy find their dead grandmother. Some other rather scary things are lights shattering and falling, power going down, talk about Lina's father drowning, Looper (Mackenzie Crook) grabbing Doon and throwing him out into the street, Doon and Lina are almost caught sneaking several times, Lina stops a girl by grabbing her scarf, Barton Snode grabs Lina and pulls her into a room, police chase Lina and Doon—and in the process tear apart buildings and threaten people, a man is carried to jail, lots of loud noises, some things break from pressure, Doon almost falls into water, a boat is smashed, and a boat with kids almost smashes, and the children go on a crazy water ride in the boat involving several waterfalls. The first message that Lina has to deliver is “If this is a potato, I'm 16 and sexy.” A girl also says she has a boyfriend. As mentioned before, sometimes the characters go a bit far taking risks and put themselves in danger—or steal things. Doon is told to “Get lost.” and “What can you do to change things?”. The Mayor laughs at Lina's name. A clerk talks back to her costumer. One reference is made to fate. Poppy chews on some paper—something you might not want your kids to emulate. A group of singers are rather… cheerful—to the point of stupidity and don't seem to care for other’s well-being. However, overall, this is a fun and engaging movie! A bit like “Wall-E” in some of it's plot, this movie is very clean and family-friendly. Something worth discussing is the journey from dark to light in our lives. In my mind, this movie is really an allegory abaout our lives as Christians! Violence: Mild / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: None See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Comments below:
Positive
Positive - “City of Ember” is an allegory of this world. While people live their lives each day, only some realizes that the world is falling apart—that the End is near! While the government (The Ruler of this World) is trying to say that “it's OK” to live here and be happy, deep inside we sense that something is wrong. Positive - I liked this movie. I see parallels between man-made religious traditions and the rules made to keep the people under control in the City of Ember. Just as the builders left behind instructions regarding how to escape the city before it became unliiveable, so God, our builder, has provided us with instructions to escape eternal destruction through Jesus Christ in the Bible. But we must boldly follow His instructions contained in the Bible, not the religious traditions of men who, like the mayor in this movie, want to keep people in ignorance so that they can maintain their power, position and wealth. Neutral
Neutral - I viewed City of Ember tonight and have been stumped by it. I know the movie as a whole is an allegory for some larger point, but what that point is exactly is uncertain. Negative
Negative - The action is exciting, and the movie is well made. The message is not very uplifting, however. People might want to see all sorts of parallels to the Word of God. I saw other things. For example: the human race might mess up the planet, we will also survive because of our ingenuity and nothing else. After all, the builders are very clearly portrayed as human only. In addition, the only people that seemed religious (the singers), are displayed as gullible to a great extend. Singing while everybody is screaming in panic because of another blackout. Hugging each other when the city falls to pieces at the end of the move. They never have anything interesting to say (in contrast to us !). A well made movie with a misleading message. Negative - This movie is just plain wicked. Such a strong accusation against a simple little movie that appears innocent and harmless you say? The film creates this strange/queasy/dirty feel to the “city of Ember” which is eventually overcome at the end when the heroes of the film break free from and escape the “lie” that they have been born into that was created to keep them in ignorance, by deviating from the norm and following “secret knowledge” which leads them to true revelation and freedom at the end where they are shown on the surface of the planet basking in the sunlight looking down with pity through a chasm in the Earth upon the rest of humanity that is still enslaved in darkness and ignorance down below them. They then drop a note tied to a rock down to the city below beckoning the lucky person who should find it to follow their path to “freedom” and to the people below this “message” would appear to fall out of the clear black sky—and the curtain closes. Almost seems like it could be a Christian allegory, then again Carbon-Monoxide is almost Carbon-Dioxide. Comments from young people
Positive - I thought that “City of Ember” was amazing! I didn't think it was offensive at all. I think its a great movie for kids maybe… 8 or older (it depends on the child). Anyway, I think everyone should see it! The only problem is that the theme is a bit dark… but other than that, it was awesome! Positive - I just saw this movie with my entire family last night, and I absolutely loved it. It was extremely clean, and kept all of us (even my dad, who loves to pick things apart) engaged through the entire movie. At the end, the thought that most of us had was: I could watch that again, right now, that was awesome! Positive - I, personally never would have seen this movie if my friend hadn't picked it out at the movie store. To tell you the truth I found this movie entertaining and exicting. I highly disagree with the reviewer who said it was very offensive. There wasn't anything that was offensive in it. It's as clean as “Wall-e.” The spirtual content, I guess, was the message at the end of the movie that theres always a way out even if hope seems lost. Positive - I loved this movie. Amazing! No sex… or anything bad. I don't remember there being any bad words. However, I wouldn't see it if you were under ten just because it might be a little scary. Positive - I thought this was a very charming movie. There wasn't anything people might find offensive, the characters were very likable and their journey to follow the 'builder's instructions' was significant and maybe even spiritual. It would be cool if there was only one 'Builder', but I guess I shouldn't expect Hollywood to do something like that! Neutral - There was nothing offensive about this movie, it just didn't make any sense. Or maybe its just because I haven't ever read or heard of the book. Nice film, kept me on the edge of my bed! Not for children under eight years old. Movie Critics
…first-rate performances by a fine cast, it’s a spirited teens-save-the-world drama that has more relevance than its fantasy roots might suggest.… …would probably entertain younger viewers, if they haven't already been hopelessly corrupted by high-powered sci-fi on TV and video. It's innocent and sometimes kind of charming. The sets are entertaining.… …the design and fashions are a delicious mix of Steampunk and post-apocalyptic, everything frayed, dirty and held together with twine and duct tape. The inhabitants, taking their cues from this environment, seem to be slowly turning into characters out of a Dickens novel.… …a post-apocalyptic parable… but there's not much for audiences to hang their emotions on.… all the running, the hiding, the escaping (from giant moles, from giant Murray) are decidedly less exciting, and compelling, than City of Ember wants to be. …a misfire… ‘Ember’ lacks that spark… …For older kids, a dystopian marvel… It’s a little fuzzy in terms of story, and too dour for young kids… I liked the texture, tone and spirit of this movie. |
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