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Critics Consensus: City of Ember is visually arresting, and boasts a superb cast, but is sadly lacking in both action and adventure.
Critic Consensus: City of Ember is visually arresting, and boasts a superb cast, but is sadly lacking in both action and adventure.
All Critics (126) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (67) | Rotten (59) | DVD (4)
It's an unfortunate end to a promising movie.
Ultimately, it didn't move me in any way.
Even if it occasionally goes off course, City of Ember provides audiences with a thought-provoking and family-friendly adventure.
A thrilling adventure tale and teen fantasy that is grounded in real concerns about who is managing the planet.
Though City of Ember is a bit hurried in execution, this first live-action film by director Gil Kenan has the subterranean feel of a dream being described.
The story, based on Jeanne Duprau's novel of the same name, is beautifully constructed. It builds until it reaches the point that it's one edge-of-your-seat moment after another.
The movie benefits from solid performances from Tim Robbins as Doon's dad and Martin Landau as Doon's elderly boss. The design teams successfully bring the city to life.
A lot of thought and effort has been put into City of Ember but the whole is never more than the sum of its parts. It wants to be an adventure story and a fable and a mystery all at the same time and never quite decides what it is.
One of the best family films of the year...if you like your kid movies with a little more bruising than normal.
Built upon a bedrock of dazzling and richly constructed sets -- think Dr. Seuss meets Jules Verne meets Mad Max -- and complemented by rock-solid storytelling, it's an enormously enjoyable family film.
Ultimately, this journey to rekindle the fire of humanity fails to burn bright enough, leaving only the unpleasant taste of ashes.
A shaky platform of sense but the visual genius is so great, the film must be seen.
An uninspiring tale that just limply moves on with no real conviction. seen much better familly dramas!
Super Reviewer
Gil Kenan's adaptation of Jeanne Duprau's book, City of Ember, leaves the occasional blackout.
It's a brief 90 minutes to reach its conclusion, and while this film is a quick draw because of that, the lack of extensive details really hurt in the second half. The first part of the story works well with the character and setting development; however, the pace ends up too fast for its own good by the time the ending comes around.
Despite classification in the fantasy genre, there isn't much reliance on effects. What's there is passable, but it's nice to watch a film like this without the overdose of CG.
Award winning acting cannot be found here, yet everyone gets by. Saoirse Ronan is actually a delight on screen with her lively personality.
City of Ember has its ups and downs, and with that said the positives outweigh the negatives, thus making it a recommendable picture.
It's a weird movie. But wasn't boring. Watchable.
This movie has so much promise for its demographic. The themes, the visuals, the actors... but none of it comes together in a truly compelling manner that would move an older audience. In the end it's a coming-of-age movie full of obvious metaphors, allegory, themes and a cast of two dimensional characters that represent them. It's not bad, a pretty decent entry-level into the SciFi genre for younger generations. But I suppose the inaccessibility of the movie for us "old" folks brought about its own demise.
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