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City of Ember Our rating: Your rating:   MPAA rating: PG (for mild peril and some thematic elements) Genre: Family Theater release: October 10, 2008 by Walden Media Directed by: Gil Kenan Runtime: 1 hour 35 minutes Cast: Saoirse Ronan (Lina Mayfleet), Harry Treadaway (Doon Harrow), Bill Murray (Mayor Cole), Tim Robbins (Loris Harrow), Sul (Martin Landau) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

City of Ember begins with the end of the world.

Knowing that an unrevealed cataclysmic event (war? disease? environmental crisis?) will soon eliminate human life, a group of scientists create an underground city called Ember where civilization will go on. It's basically a giant fallout shelter shaped into a city—complete with brownstones, brick streets, and a city-square fountain—spread out under an impressive web of light bulbs and wires.

Of course, the city's architects—identified as The Builders—know it's only temporary. Ember's tremendous generator cannot run forever. The canned food won't last infinitely. And so, hoping that humans can again live on Earth's surface in 200 years, they put a sort of expiration date on Ember. They install a turn-key operation into the city that will easily and safely allow the survivors to leave their underground world. They then leave behind complete instructions about getting to this new life above ground.

Harry Treadway as Doon, Saoirse Ronan as Lina

But over time, the instructions are lost and forgotten.

More than 200 years go by and the over-extended Ember is crumbling. It is way past its expiration date. The generator is dying. Food is running out. No one remembers that there's more to life than Ember and the darkness surrounding it. No one knows that an escape plan even exists. But a young girl named Lina (Atonement's Oscar-nominated Saoirse Ronan) stumbles onto part of an ancient message and is sure that it holds the secret to leaving Ember. She and her friend Doon (Harry Treadaway) must unravel the mystery before Ember's lights go out forever.

In a time of war, ecological concerns, economic unrest, and continual worry for our world's future, it is no surprise to see a run of dystopian, fear-filled, end-of-the-world movies like Children of Men, I Am Legend, The Happening, Cloverfield, etc. The science fiction and horror genres have long been fertile ground for filmmakers and storytellers to explore these themes. What is interesting, though, is that two 2008 films—WALL*E and City of Ember—have mixed the apocalyptic with family-friendliness. Make no mistake: City of Ember is a good family film and apocalyptic sci-fi. In fact, it's best described as Logan's Run (1976) for kids—with a little of 12 Monkeys and Children of Men mixed with '80s kid adventures like The Goonies.

Lina looks for answers to save the city

The compelling mystery/thriller has all the right ingredients for success. The cast features two Oscar nominees (Ronan and a well-cast Bill Murray) and two Oscar winners (Tim Robbins and Martin Landau). It is produced by the usually dependable Tom Hanks and directed by the promising young auteur of Monster House. And, as is the case with most films from Walden Media, it is also based on a beloved children's book—this one by author Jeanne DuPrau. The screenplay is by the writer of The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Secret Garden, and Edward Scissorhands. With City of Ember, the studio adds another victory to its hit (Charlotte's Web, Holes, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Because of Winn-Dixie) and miss (Hoot, Around the World in 80 Days, The Seeker) record.

The movie brings DuPrau's visionary world of wonder alive with fervor and energy. The story moves quickly: hitting plot points at a sprint and creating great tension. But the ill side effect of that slam-bang pace is that we don't get to enjoy or explore Ember enough. Worse, we don't get to know the characters very well. While I'm sure their characterizations and personalities were deeper in the books, the movie's Lina and Doon are pretty much just figures who react to things. And while there isn't as much journey and adventure as I'd have guessed from the trailers, the film is full of discovery, charm, fun and deeper themes.

Loris (Tim Robbins) is interrogated by the Ember police

It's in these deeper messages where I, as a Christian and film lover, was most impressed. While I am not sure how intentional (I know nothing about DuPrau's faith life, although Walden Media was founded mostly by Christians), City of Ember is a wonderful metaphor for the Christian life. In fact, while the story may not have been deliberately meant this way by DuPrau, it's an excellent example of how Christian storytelling and parable can evoke a very real pull to the supernatural—without beating anyone over the head with conversion scenes or preachiness.

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