Note before we begin: I meant to post this originally earlier in the year, but this challenge has proven to be difficult to get off the ground. My time has been limited and the other topics that I have been wanting to review have not taken my interest. Also, I had to decide if I wanted to make a YouTube channel discussing these blogs. Now I know that can capture another audience to spread my reviews, but I am still uncertain if that is the way I want to go. If I do go down that path I, of course, will let you all know. Without further ado, let's begin the review.
Welcome to the first review of Which Is Better. Today's topic will focus on the popular children's novel The City of Ember, written by Jean DuPrau, and it's film counterpart that was directed by Gil Kenan. Please note that since this is the first review, I will also be discussing how some parts of my blogs will work and that I plan to base most of my future Which Is Better blogs on this format. Also, fair warning, there will be SPOILERS throughout the blog, since it is a discussion of the book and movie.
Which Came First?
In this section, I will mention which one came to me first; did I read the book first, or did I watch the movie? For the City of Ember, it was the movie. I was a teenager when I first saw it and didn't know that it was based on a book series. I thought it was a well-made film and that it had an interesting concept of how a civilization existed underground after "Doomsday." It wasn't until I read the book that I saw and understood more of why the plot went the way it did.
The Plot
With the end of the world coming, a group of people known as the Builders created an underground dwelling space for the sake and future of humankind. In a box that was given to the Mayor and overseer of the city were instructions, that in 200 years time would lead the people back to the surface of Earth. The Builders had hoped after 200 years, the world would be safe for the survivors to return to. What they did not expect was the box to go missing, and that's what it did. After the box opened, it wasn't discovered until almost years later was it found by a little girl named Poppy who tried to eat the instructions. Her older sister Lina stopped her though, and along with her friend Doon, they discover a way to get to the surface of the world. But will others believe them? And can they make it before the City of Ember, the light in the dark, goes out forever?
Compare and Contrast
The film stays true to the book in most ways of how the box is passed down, lost, then rediscovered, and how the children find a way to leave the city. But there were add subplots. The book is meant for a young audience and is seen through the eyes of the main protagonists Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow, who are both twelve years old. But the film was meant to be a family movie, so there were elements added to keep the most of the audience, adults included, interested. Make-shift droids, large insects, giant mole rats, a backstory to Lina's father's mysterious death, and an old organization that was once determined to leave the City of Ember was added to the story.
In my opinion, some of the additives were exceptional; with the evolution of creatures, it can be understood that with rarely or any predators that some insects could get large (of course, the film could also be making up for how Doon was kind of like an entomologist in the book and would study bugs he found). But I think most of the small changes they made or added was so the film could be enjoyed as a family film. As I stated before, the book is told through children's eyes so the audience will see it as they do: there are words they have never seen before because they haven't been used for 200 years; why did the adults they entrusted the knowledge of a way out of Ember betray them and say they the children were liars?; and the amazement of little things such as candlesticks and matches.
The thing I enjoyed the most though is seeing how Lina is portrayed in the book. Though still a child, she sees herself as the main provider since she has to play a mother figure to her sister and take care of her feeble-minded grandmother; and she is, but she still is a child that enjoys things others do. It's not until her grandmother's passing and the discovery of the box with the Instructions to leave Ember does she show how much she has grown into a true provider and leader. This is also seen in the movie, but I feel it is shown more thoroughly in the book. I was upset though how Mrs. Murdo's part was transitioned to Doon's father in the film. Tim Robbins acting was good, but Mrs. Murdo played a more inspiring character to Lina, Poppy, and Doon than Mr. Harrow, especially when she basically volunteered to become the girls' guardian after their grandmother's death. I feel this change was made to try to make it tie into one of the plots in the film, and perhaps the makers of the film thought Clary at the greenhouses was enough of a missing mother-figure to have in the film.
Final Thoughts
In this section, I explain which one I liked the most, if I liked them both, or neither one was my cup of tea. For the City of Ember, I would say both the book and film were good in their own ways. The book revives a child's spark of amazement and curiosity as you join two children (the third tagging along because Lina didn't want to leave Poppy behind) on a journey to find a way out of their dying town and save its inhabitants from total darkness. The film is a good family movie, filled with danger as they avoid dangerous giant creatures and villainous adults and mystery as they discover how to escape Ember and learn of those that tried before them. I can enjoy them separately, and I would recommend either one.
And that concludes my first Which Is Better blog. If you like this concept of book/film reviewing, let me know in the comments below. Also, if you have any suggestions, I am open to them; recommend a piece of work for me and explain your reasoning (I also like to know other people's thoughts on books and films). Until next time keep an eye out for my other articles, since I still review other books and movies aside from this project, as well as the blogs I write for my bookstore.
