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City of Ember

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Wish there was somewhere we could go on a date...

The City of Ember was established two hundred years ago, as the last bastion of civilisation, after a terrible bloodletting on the surface. The residents are assigned jobs by the luck of the draw. One young man ends up working on the water system, while his friend becomes a messenger. Both long to find a way to the surface, especially since their city is facing two major crises: dwindling food, and dwindling energy (not unlike our current Plant Earth). Using old stories and an even older map, they try to find a way out, but the mayor's assistant is determined to thwart them.

94 minutes, Mature Accompaniment under 10 (Violence)
Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi.

Credits

Cast

Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway, Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, Toby Jones, Mary Kay Place

Director

Gil Kenan

Screenplay

Caroline Thompson, from the book by Jeanne Duprau

Music

Andrew Lockington

Cinematography

Xavier Pérez Grobet

Editing

Adam P. Scott, Zach Staenberg

Sound formats

Dolby Digital, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound, DTS

Soundtrack

Available

Made in

2008

Produced by

Playtone, Walden Media

SA Distributor

Nu Metro

FPB Report (SA)
Genre	Fantasy, horror, adventure
Language	Mild
Nudity	None
Sex	None
Violence	Strongish menace
Prejudice	None
Blasphemy	None
Drug abuse	None
Comments	A curious genre piece involving adventure, fantasy and some horror menace. Parental guidance and supervision strongly recommended for sensitive children.
These details are supplied by the FPB. If you have a problem with any of the above, please take it up directly with the FPB. Read the Classification Guidelines.

ScreenIt Report (USA)

Sex / Nudity

Violence

Blood / Gore / Gross

Guns /
Weapons

Profanity

Alcohol / Drugs

Smoking

Disrespectful /
Bad Attitude

Imitative Behaviour

Frightening /
Tense Scenes

Jump Scenes

Tense Family Scenes

Music (Scary/Tense)

Music (Inappropriate)

Topics to talk about

Ratings

Scale (Max)

South African Media

Cape Argus/The StarTheresa Smith

Die BurgerJeanne Calitz

Cape TimesMichael Sragow

International Media

Chicago Sunday TimesRoger Ebert City of Ember 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.

eye Weekly (Canada)Kieran Grant Even while Lina and Doon’s quest drums up a faint inner cheer, the sense that director Gil Kenan can’t find a satisfying way to complete the tale doesn’t do much to mitigate the blatant metaphor for ecological doom.

ReelViews (USA)James Berardinelli City of Ember has almost anything one could want from a science fiction-based family adventure film: likeable characters, an imaginative setting, and a fast pace.

ScreenIt (USA)C. Fuchs While most of us aren't looking for an exciting and adventurous solution and conclusion to our current chaotic state and instead would appreciate a calm and measured approach, that's the antithesis of what we're looking for in a film. Unfortunately, there's little excitement or overall entertainment value to be found in City of Ember.

Metacritic.com27 critics

RottenTomatoes.com112 critics

RottenTomatoes.comTomatometer City of Ember is visually arresting, and boasts a superb cast, but is sadly lacking in both action and adventure.

Internet (IMDB)1739 Netizens Fading Ember

Average .. 54%

Trailer

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