A lot of money (~ $55 million) was spent building a city set inside of a warehouse in Ireland, so this movie was always going to have a shadow over it as it's rare for dystopian teen movies to ever make enough money to justify such high production costs. Even more of a gamble as this movie came out 4 years before Hunger Games established that real money could be made here. And as fun as the first book in this series is, it is a very niche coming of age story set in a post apocalyptic movie. In addition to the high production cost, the movie is too dark for a small child but too childish for adults or teenagers. The audience interested in this film is small and the cost was high, so it was never going to be "successful."
Saorise Ronan is great in one of her early roles but the tone feels off when compared to Bill Murray's performance. The comedy elements don't really match the dark dystopia. The childish over-explanation also don't match the dark dystopia.
I don't think the writers quite understood the draw of teenagers to dystopian fiction. College and life after high school is scary. And that jump from elementary school to high school is scary! The City of Ember offered a dystopia where someone is assigned a job and life is organized. It also fulfills that fantasy of uncovering the mystery and breaking that organization for something better. Playing the dark elements for laughs and not properly focusing on why a child would like the story is the reason I don't think this movie will ever be on anyone's nostalgia rewatch lists.
While I did like the book, I didn't like the sequels. Besides spending too much on sets and not enough on marketing, this series was never set up to be a Hunger Games or Twilight money maker as the book series isn't that great and the writers didn't add any additional elements to make the stoey better.
I only suggest this for a dystopian obsessed child. Or someone writing an article on how Saorise Ronan is a great actress.
Saorise Ronan is great in one of her early roles but the tone feels off when compared to Bill Murray's performance. The comedy elements don't really match the dark dystopia. The childish over-explanation also don't match the dark dystopia.
I don't think the writers quite understood the draw of teenagers to dystopian fiction. College and life after high school is scary. And that jump from elementary school to high school is scary! The City of Ember offered a dystopia where someone is assigned a job and life is organized. It also fulfills that fantasy of uncovering the mystery and breaking that organization for something better. Playing the dark elements for laughs and not properly focusing on why a child would like the story is the reason I don't think this movie will ever be on anyone's nostalgia rewatch lists.
While I did like the book, I didn't like the sequels. Besides spending too much on sets and not enough on marketing, this series was never set up to be a Hunger Games or Twilight money maker as the book series isn't that great and the writers didn't add any additional elements to make the stoey better.
I only suggest this for a dystopian obsessed child. Or someone writing an article on how Saorise Ronan is a great actress.