Review: “City of Ember”

Seen on: October 11, 2008

The players: Director: Gil Kenan, Writer: Caroline Thompson, Cast: Bill Murray, Toby Jones, Saoirse Ronan, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, Harry Treadaway

Facts of interest: Based on the book by Jeanne Duprau.

The plot: Two youngsters (Ronan and Treadaway) must save an entire underground city before the lights go out and darkness thrusts everyone into panic.

Our thoughts: While Gil Kenan’s “City of Ember” fails to qualify as an extraordinary family adventure, the film boasts enough energy and excitement to captivate younger audiences from start to finish. You can hate me for saying this, but this kind of films turns out to be more constructive than your average animated flick in which talking animals keep doing the same stuff over and over again.

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'City of Ember' web reviews

Younger audiences will likely have a good time watching "City of Ember" this weekend, Gil Kenan's family adventure about two teenagers who race against time to help the citizens of Ember escape before the city’s powerful generator breaks down and all the lights go out forever. Saoirse Ronan, Tim Robbins and Bill Murray star. Let's see what online critics have to say about the flick:

• Cinematical's Jette Kernion: "Caroline Thompson's script gives us strong main characters and entertaining supporting characters, but is a little light on story."

• Brian Orndorf at Collider: "'City of Ember' is a sci-fi fantasy film with forbidding apocalyptic overtones, extravagant set design, and an edge that mixes high-flying questing with significant ecological worry."

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Two new ‘City of Ember’ clips hit

Gil Kenan’s family adventure “City of Ember” opens everywhere Oct. 10, and Yahoo! Movies just posted two new spots for the film, which follows two teenagers who race against time to help the citizens of Ember escape before the city’s powerful generator breaks down and all the lights go out forever. Enjoy below.

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Zemeckis to produce 'Airman' adaptation

Robert Zemeckis will produce the Gil Kenan-directed family adventure “Airman,” which is based on a book b Eoin Colfer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The project marks the reunion of the two filmmakers, who previously collaborated on the fairly decent animated flick “Monster House.”

“Airman” centers on Conor Broekhart, a young man who was born in a hot air balloon. Because of a series of unfortunate events, he later lands in prison, where he tries to escape before heading out to battle an alliance planning to overthrow the government.

Just like Zemeckis’ previous flicks “The Polar Express” and “Beowulf,” the film will use motion capture animation. A screenwriter has yet to be hired though.

Kenan’s latest directorial effort, “City of Ember,” will open Oct. 10. Zemeckis’ next is “A Christmas Carol,” with Jim Carrey, Colin Firth and Gary Oldman.