This review does not contain plot spoilers.

The City of Ember, was an excellent children’s movie, and I had expected as much from it. Directed by Gil Kenan, the movie is based on a book by Jeanne DuPrau. The book has been chosen by the American Library Association as a notable book, and luckily many of the fantastic qualities and morals contained in the post apocalyptic novel, are present in the movie.

The city, instead of being CGIed was actually built in the shipyards that were once built to house the mighty Titanic. As the characters run through the streets it feels like you’re there with them. Each character, even the ones on the street who lack names, have a memorable character. Somehow though, this movie was almost entirely overlooked. The theater that I saw it in was, sadly, actually empty.

Hopefully when the DVD comes out though, it will get some of the recognition it deserves. The movie managed to put some adult sized issues into a kid appropriate movie and plot.

It demonstrated the importance of never blindly trusting authority or political figures, through the character of the corrupt mayor played by Bill Murray. The mayor knows the city is slowly dying, and that there is a way out. His plan is to take off and leave the rest of the city to die. On top of that, the main characters Lina and Doon, soon find out that the mayor has been keeping a whole bunker of food to himself while the rest of the city starves.

The movie drove home the idea that you should never give up on an idea after a single failure. We find out early in the movie that Lina’s father has died during an attempt to leave the city. Yet, it turns out that her father was right about there being a way out of the city, and his daughter is able to find her way out and be the first one in the city to see the sun in more than 100 years.

It even dealt with the flaws contained in a society where people lose their individual freedom. Each person in the city draws their job out of a hat. One of the first things the movie shows us is the failure of a system where people have no passion for what they do. Doon, who wants with all his heart to fix the broken generator is given a job as a messenger, and even though trades with someone else to work on the pipeworks, he’s unable to reach his full potential. His father, likewise, is never able to reach his true potential as a great inventor.

Beyond all these excellent points though, the movie’s appeal comes down to something invisible: connection. You can’t see the movie’s connection to the audience, but you can feel it. It may be a science fiction movie, but every emotion is still totally relatable to a person in today’s world. You can feel the sadness of Lina at here father’s death, and the amazement they feel at seeing their first sunrise.