To me, this movie is perfection.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

If H.P. Lovecraft, Guillermo Del Toro, and Tim Burton all sat down, had a few beers and wrote a post apocalyptic children's story book, it would look something like City Of Ember, a magnificent, underrated dystopian fable. It concerns a world ravaged by some horrible nuclear calamity, the sparse remnants of humanity forced into an underground city thousands of miles below the earth's surface. Now, this ain't no Fallout. The brutality and desperation that usually characterize the post apocalyptic sub genre are breezily absent. Humanity, although relegated to an existence alike to that of a groundhog or mole, have more or less made peace with their predicament, and live a very pleasant subterranean life, making the best of what they have and keeping their industry thriving, for the most part. Saoirse Ronan is Lina Mayfleet, a vivacious young girl just coming into her own, marvelling at the wonders of her vast underground city, and wondering about the marvels that potentially lie beyond, or specifically, above it. The adults in her world are more or less settled in their ways. But the great generators which power the City Of Ember have begun to fail, threatening darkness for everyone. The corrupt mayor (a perfectly sleazy Bill Murray) could give a crap and is content to steal all the wealth for himself. It's up to Lina and her close friend Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) to use ancient clues left by benevolent ancestors in an attempt to reach the surface of the earth and save their species. It's a terrific adventure, with care and thought put into the special effects. The climate further into the centre of the earth causes the wildlife to grow exponentially in size, and we are treated to stunning visuals of this, such as a huge golden moth the size of a Volkswagen. There's great support from actors including Tim Robbins, Mary Kay Place, Martin Landau, Toby Jones and Simon Kunz, that adorable butler from The Parent Trap, stealing scenes as a fatherly employment official. The film was shot in the same shipyard which the Titanic was constructed in, now converted into the largest soundstage in the world. You really get a sense of vastness and large scale isolation from such a method, drawing you into the character's environment all the more. Highly recommended.

I kinda like the the trailer, okay, but trust me, this movie is not worth it to watch for. You will just waste your precious hour. I kinda a bit regret it.At first, i think the story is quite interesting and unique. Let say, 15 minutes at the beginning you will feel like... oh wow, it's an interesting concept. 30 minutes later, you would say..err okay, so what's next? ( the story kind of left many plot holes especially since i do not read the book so like hell i will know what happen. There are too many things left unexplained, come from out of nowhere, or just left out-untouched ). Then you will start to wonder and doubt yourself, should you stop watching it or just continue it. I decided to continue it, since i still expect things would turn out to be better. It was a false hope. The development of the story itself and the character, were so poor. Everything seemed so rush and the ending was so horrible.

This movie starts out okay, but later on not so much. While the two main characters are trying to find their way out of the city it obviously can't be too easy for them. I get that this is the whole point of the movie. However, this is the type of movie where the characters make such stupid decisions you find yourself yelling at them for most of the last half. Some people may find this suspenseful, but I ended up wishing they would just die so it will all be over. In the end I fast forwarded when I couldn't take it any more, but found myself too invested to just turn it off. Simple and predictable, but sadly I've seen much worse.

...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.