CITY OF EMBER is Brit director Gil Kenan’s second feature after the animated MONSTER HOUSE.  He clearly leaves his mark with a dark British looking fantasy tale of hope amidst hopelessness (end of world; fate of mankind in a metal box).

The story of CITY OF EMBER involves an underground city without light.  Built as a refuge for humanity and powered by a massive generator - this city will only sustain for 200 years. Ember slowly falls into darkness as the generator flickers and fades.  Like all children fantasies, it is up to the kids - in this case, Lina and Doon, a boy and a girl to save the day.  Good stuff – as the film will cater to children male and female.  And parents too – as director Kenan and scriptwriter Caroline Thompson (EDWARD SCISSORHANDS) have crafted a film with enough intricacies to keep adults entertained.  Children too young may find the film disturbing and require some help in following the plot.  But the film contains enough spectacle (the city looks very Dickenson) to keep the kids focused.

CITY OF EMBER has quite a lot of talent going for it from the director, scriptwriter, special effects wiz, Kit West (RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK), cinematographer Xavier Perez Grobet (BEFORE NIGHT FALLS) to the cast of stars, both veteran (Bill Murray providing much needed humor as the greedy mayor, Martin Landau, Tim Robbins) and upcoming (Harry Treadaway from CONTROL and Saoirse Ronan from ATONEMENT).

Condensed from the best selling novel by Jeanne Duprau, Kenan has a bit of difficulty condensing the material.  The film begins with a lengthy voiceover explaining the goings-on and gets a bit confusing with all the clues.  Still CITY OF EMBER is more engrossing and a cut above recent entries of this genre like THE GOLDEN COMPASS and the NARNIA series.