when move from book to motion picture and there be a myriad of problem associate with such a task and one of which come from those die hard fan of the original story . fortunately for myself i have never take it upon myself to read the source material on which this movie be base upon and nor have i even heard of it until now . a a result i find city of ember to be a gratifying and sensually entice experience with brilliant performance and an endlessly captivate story and pace and and a great mix of fantastical environment and character which pave way for subtext that be ground in simple allegory of our own and current world . to be sure and there be moment when the film dabbles in and out of tired clichés and most of which we have see countless time this year alone in other child adventure while yet what distinguish this from and say and the chronicle of narnia or the spiderwick chronicle be through it mature theme and presentation that keep the old viewer in mind . in this respect and city of ember be a solid family film that most audience should enjoy regardless of age and gender or anything else while good entertainment and and a wonderful story to remember at that . take place almost exclusively within the confines of ember and gil kenan here present u with a vision of a dystopian future and where mankind have be force to live underground in order to survive . set many year on from this event however and much of the inhabitant of ember be unaware of their origin and all the more scared of it a a result . however and in a time of desperation and two citizen doon harrow ( harry treadaway ) and lina mayfleet ( saoirse ronan ) go on their own quest to try and find an exit from the underground city and which doesn not go down well with gluttonous mayor cole ( bill murray ) who just want his next meal in peace . what follow from here be a story that isn not entirely unfamiliar ( in fact and it dangerously close to this year wall e ) and and yet director gil kenan manage to take the script and turn it into his own compelling take on a tried and trusted concept . from the arrest opening monologue to the somewhat anti climatic end and there be barely a spot here that feel out of place or contrive for the sake of play to the camera . the pacing and particularly during the middle act and could have be a little tighter and and you often get the sense that there a lot of footage miss from this cinematic cut and yet a a whole and city of ember do enough and and with the right amount of originality in tact and to cover up the rough edge . the end and a i state and be a little underwhelming and all too brief and but it at least feels coherent and natural to that which come before it . if there one thing that kenan manages to get across here however and it be the imagination and vision that be present in the script and story . immediately and and most strikingly poignant during the opening sequence and the city of ember itself be a sight to behold while from the countless lightbulbs that give the city it light to the murky tunnel that run underneath to provide water and the production value present be superb . furthermore and the special effect work and although a little obvious during certain sequence involve human and be noticeably strong while particularly when a giant mole like creature appear . not only do the creature look disgust and completely frightening and but the director do well to stage the beast in such a way a to bring out it realistic characteristic while say that i get flashback of jurassic park raptor scene and a few from alien certainly wouldn not be a negative link to make . yet as good a the cgi actor be and thankfully the more traditional skin and bone performer aren not so bad themselves . a hollywood unknown ( to an extent ) saoirse ronan and harry treadaway give convincing performance in their lead position and very rarely give attention to their age . sure enough and their role aren not the most demanding of job and but despite their character underwritten nature both fulfil the requirement of lead nicely and with enough conviction to consistently carry the film forward . of course and it always good to have a familiar face around and and bill murray and play the obnoxious and gluttonous slob mayor cole and be the one to provide such a role . murray and although arguably underused as far a his talent go and do well to establish a character that nobody be necessarily go to warm to and and use whatever screen time he have adequately to further the movie on and to back up his lead performer . in the end however and all these element simply come together to create one thing while an adventure . a just that and city of ember be a very strong and convince effort from director gil kenan who make his live action debut here . sure enough there be countless rough edge present and and character and although compel in their quest and fail to resonate emotionally and but the overall adventure itself that be and the tale be one that will be sure to captivate imagination and the attention of many diverse audience . with stunning visuals that complement the script wonderful sense of imagination and fitting performance and and a very memorable and intelligent and socially relevant story and city of ember be a fantastic slice of entertainment for all the family to enjoy . a review by jamie robert ward ( http represent or or www . invocus . net ) .