City of Ember Reviews
Critic & User Reviews
Critic Reviews
Ember is seldom riveting, but it's consistently compelling, and its uncompromising literal and metaphorical darkness renders its climax enormously satisfying.
Read the full reviewCity 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.
Read the full reviewIt's not an entirely convincing trip, but it is the sort of satisfying movie you wished they would make more often.
Read the full reviewThe story, which follows two kids who try to save their burg from blackouts, isn't well-executed, losing itself to unclear mythology and sci-fi gibberish.
Read the full reviewAt its best when sticking to a classic sci-fi-fantasy format. But when it tries to be a generic thrill ride, it loses its originality and peculiar charm.
Read the full reviewIt's innocent and sometimes kind of charming. The sets are entertaining. There are parallels in appearance and theme to a low-rent "Dark City."
Read the full reviewCity of Ember lacks the vision and scope of "WALL-E," but it's based on a pretty good kids' book and it makes a pretty good "Twilight Zone" episode, with hope dangling at the end rather than one of Rod Serling's cosmic black jokes.
Read the full reviewYou long for things to go bump in the night, but the movie muffles every risk in a blanket of bland.
Read the full reviewAt only 95 minutes, the movie feels as though it had been shredded in the editing room. In Hollywood-speak, it has a weak second act.
Read the full reviewStalls at the intersection of fantasy and science fiction.
Read the full reviewA fabulously designed underground metropolis proves more involving than the teenagers running through its streets in City of Ember, a good-looking but no more than serviceable adaptation of Jeanne Duprau's 2003 novel.
Read the full reviewNone of this means that the film is necessarily enjoyable to watch, however, which is often the problem when the rigors of inspired storytelling can't live up to an imaginatively designed filmic world.
Read the full reviewReview excerpts provided by Metacritic.com.
The Metascore® designation for this movie is 58
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