Over 200 years ago, something happened to the Earth that forced man kind to go underground to a city called Ember. Here, society would live on until instructions left behind by the builders of the city were revealed. These instructions were placed in a time-sealed box that counted down the years, and this box was handed down to each Mayor of Ember. The problem is, somewhere along the way, the box disappeared and knowledge of it was forgotten.
Now, Ember is in shambles, the generators are failing more and more each day and the city is barely able to sustain its population. The main focus of the movie is two kids, Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) and Lina Mayfleet (Saorise Ronan). The movie opens up to the day where they find out what job they will have for the rest of their life. Harrow, convinced that he knows he can fix the generator ends up with a job in the Pipeworks, while Mayfleet becomes a Messenger. While neither of these are their ideal jobs, they both believe they can make a difference where they are.
Mayfleet discovers a strange box (the one passed down by mayors) in her closet that, when opened, reveals a torn up paper that is obviously instructions from The Builders (it seems that the people who made Ember have been deified over the generations). With the help of Harrow, the two will start to uncover a strange plot that could go all the way to the top and involve Mayor Cole (Bill Murray), and they will also reveal a bit of personal history about their own parents, including Harrow's dad (played by Tim Robbins). Unfortunately, given the great cast and fairly good special effects (though there were a few that looked quite fake), overall there just isn't enough action in the film. There are a couple of chase sequences, but even those are short-lived, and while I don't typically mind dialogue-heavy films, I'm not sure how the kids will like it.
The overall story itself is enjoyable and it could be a lot darker, but considering the movie's audience, I think it hits the nail on the head in that department. But the style of City of Ember is what really makes an impression. While The Builders were modern people, for some reason they decided to make the city look like something more fitting a Steam Punk style. Maybe that's just because over the centuries, everything has just degraded so much that it has that feel, but there are plenty of machines that just look like they belong in that genre. The city itself is filled with muted-colored buildings, dingy streets and the yellow glow of the thousands of incandescent light bulbs that hang above. It really does have a very specific, defined style about it.
What I truly found amazing was the utter lack of special features. I would have loved to see a featurette from the set designers about the different locations of Ember and how they came up with the film's very unique style. I'm sure it was mostly inspired by the book, but I think it would have been a great bonus to hear the designer talk about taking the description and bringing it to life, or maybe a featurette about the few CG creatures that appear. Pretty much anything would have been nice, but instead it only offers previews ... that's just pitiful.
City of Ember is a nice family-friendly film, and while the premise seems to promise quite a bit of action and sleuthing, it can be found wanting. In the end, City of Ember is a rental at best.
