Next time you’re playing a space training simulator game, maybe don’t genocide the aliens too well. You may have to feel bad about that later.

That’s what happens to Ender, anyway. The 6 to 12-year-old at the heart of Ender’s Game. He’s been selected to go to space camp and play laser tag because some giant ants attacked earth a while back and for reasons, only a kid can lead a space army. But when Ender learns along the way is… sometimes things matter? I’m not sure what he learned, the movie is so compressed.

Even though we liked the Ender’s Game book, we’ve since been forced to confront the fact that the author is a total dick bag. Fortunately, he doesn’t make any money from the film, and the other thing we had a huge problem with–the redicilous message-board coup that Ender’s brother stages–is taken out for pacing reasons. All in all, not a bad adaptation.