City of Ember: Critic Reviews

At moments City of Ember suggests a mild satire of end-of-days ideology.

Despite a classy cast - Toby Jones, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau - this is fantasy which runs low on a crucial ingredient: imagination.

Even if it occasionally goes off course, City of Ember provides audiences with a thought-provoking and family-friendly adventure.

It's not an entirely convincing trip, but it is the sort of satisfying movie you wished they would make more often.

The story's powered by the sense of discovery that moves classic quest tales -- the idea that there's something much, much bigger out there if only you can find it. It's a modest movie that understands the sky's the limit.

And though the film ultimately falls short of its considerable promise, there's more than enough here to keep thoughtful moviegoers - of any age - intrigued.

The brightest star is the soundstage that stands in for endangered Ember. It's a beguiling, belching, labyrinthine example of movie magic.

To be fair, 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.

[The filmmakers] create a sharply realized and fantastically rich underground city.

A murky, directionless plot sinks this big-budget fantasy.

More often, all the running, the hiding, the escaping (from giant moles, from giant Murray) are decidedly less exciting, and compelling, than City of Ember wants to be.

Splendidly cast, intelligent, graphically inventive romp.

City of Ember is one of those sparkling and smart family fantasy films that breed respect for the writers of young adult novels and serve as reminder that good things do come out of Hollywood.

Whether by coincidence or intention, City of Ember hits home, leaving you hoping that we'll find our own Doon and Lina to get to the bottom of things before it's too late.

City of Ember would have functioned better as a five-minute theme-park ride than as a 94-minute family film.

Begins where Dr. Strangelove ended: what if the world ended and humanity was forced to live underground? (Minus Strangelove's promise of an army of fertile vixens.)

Both light entertainment and smart, subversive literature, urging the young to think for themselves, question authority and make their own destiny.

A thrilling adventure tale and teen fantasy that is grounded in real concerns about who is managing the planet.

City of Ember suffers from being as under-plotted as it is overdecorated.

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.

While director Gil Kenan and writer Caroline Thompson's work leans heavily toward children's fantasy, their film leaves gaping science-fiction holes.

Except for watching Bill Murray get attacked by a giant mole (something unique in Billy boy's career so far) this sci-fi fantasy aimed at kids feels wan and warmed over.

A grim fantasy about a cloistered subterranean metropolis that wants to be both a kids' adventure and a dystopian finger-wag. That director Gil Kenan's second feature never quite succeeds as either is a shame for all the dazzling craftsmanship.

One of the best family films of the year...if you like your kid movies with a little more bruising than normal.