City of Ember (MOVIE: 2008) directed by Gil Kenan

Doon and Lina. From City of Ember. 2008.

CITY OF EMBER
Directed by Gil Kenan
Notable Actors: Saoirse Ronan as Lina Mayfleet, Harry Treadaway as Doon Harrow, Tim Robbins as Loris Harrow, Bill Murray as Mayor Cole, and Lucinda Dryzek as Lizzie Bisco.

Rating: 7 out of 10

SPOILERS.
The City of Ember was built so that future generations would never know the heartache and suffering of the land above. The first mayor was given a box with a count down to 200 years in the future. The box would open when it reached so. With 160 gone by already, the box was misplaced. The cities lights are now starting to flicker and the giant generator is breaking down, having survived and kept its population far underground safe up till now. Doon is up for the job choosing day, and he's got his hopes pinned on the generator. The black outs are increasing, so Doon and his father are getting worried. Luckily, its assignment day and he will be given a job to carry out for the rest of his life. Unluckily for Doon, he chose Messenger out of the bag. Lina, the female protagonist, enters into the scene late. She pulls Pipe Works Laborer...which doesn't suit tiny, quick Lina. Luckily though for Doon, Lina agrees to the swap, and is excited to run around town delivering messages. Doon is close to the generator for the Pipe Works, so he's not too concerned yet. They both start their jobs and learning how to work them...while learning a little bit about Ember and the way it functions. The worst of the black outs happens, and Doon and Lina find each other in the dark. Little pieces are being fit together in a puzzle to solve the crisis.
   Lina finds her sister Poppy eating the paper out of a box in the closet, a box her senile grandmother was tearing apart the house for. We find out that when Lina visits the mayor's office, she is related to the seventh mayor of Ember. Lina cracks open the box, but the damaged paper is hard to understand and doesn't make a ton of sense. Eventually, her grandmother dies and she vows to figure out what's in the box. Her and Doon put together the rest of the puzzle and see that its instructions from the builders. After trials of having to beat the clock ticking down on the life support of the city, and the corrupt mayor trying to hold all the resources to himself; Lina, Doon, and Poppy must find their way out of Ember, before everyone is dead.

Nothing is more confused than a velociraptor..
in petticoats.

This movie is rather cute, and its interesting on how the plot shapes and moves itself. I'm not really sure until 45 minutes in the movie what the point of the story is. Maybe this whole movie is a prequel, but its a lousy movie...unless its all a set up..then maybe I won't mind as much. Regardless, I did like the acting, the costumes, and the overall idea, though I did find the plot lacking, the music in the sequences boring, and the general cinematography lazy.

If you are lazy and might want to be everything from disturbed, to confused, to 'WTF', go ahead and catch City of Ember.