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Bred to kill, Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is the youngest and smallest of the Wiggin children; luckily, he’s the Goldilocks of the family as well, not too violent and not too empathetic. Walking the line of moderation this brilliant militaristic mind might just be the key to the survival of the human race; it’s only a matter of time before Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford), Major Anderson (Viola Davis), and Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley) take notice of Ender’s traits and abilities. Naturally, with great power comes great responsibility, as Ender is groomed to destroy an alien race known as the Formics, his journey will cause him to question his raison d’etre, what does it all mean?Based on Orson Scott Card’s book Ender’s Game, Director Gavin Hood has condensed the overall storyline into a 114 minute stock pot soup sci-fi youth coming of age adventure. That is to say, for an adventure, there seems to be a general lack of freshness or originality. Even though the source material was penned years before J.K. Rowling hatched the idea for Harry Potter, the parallels are mind numbing and anti-climactic. While the film attempts to raise the subject of creating a warring society and the ethics of battle, it’s not done with tact, grace, or poetic beauty to the point the viewer is left to shrug things off. While acting and production values remain high, the word is still milquetoast. Ender’s Game is rated PG-13.

It’s been years since the gang has been together but an upcoming wedding calls for drastic action, four friends since childhood, Billy (Michael Douglas), Paddy (Robert De Niro), Archie (Morgan Freeman), and Sam (Kevin Kline) reunite for one weekend in Las Vegas to throw Billy the bachelor party of all bachelor parties. But, an underlying spat between Billy and Paddy might just be the wet blanket that spoils everything. Life lessons to be gained, will these pals set aside their differences and let the healing commence, and what of this new songstress in the wings, Diana (Mary Steenburgen)? Written by Dan Fogelman and Directed by Jon Turteltaub what’s concocted is a perfectly normal, feel good, buddy film that doesn’t exactly challenge viewers but charms them instead. With cliché old jokes, and predictable scenarios a-plenty, the few genuine chuckles and laughs here are hardly hard earned but here’s where some of our favorite aging actors shine, their overall charisma and spark translates into fun time. While almost totally forgettable, from an entertainment angle you could totally do worse, the production quality feels slick and acting remains solid. Maybe a fun and mindless distraction if you’re looking for something light this weekend. Las Vegas is rated PG-13.