City Of Ember (PG) 94 mins
Review by Victor Olliver - A post-apocalyptic fantasy for teens based on Jeanne DuPrau's '80s book.
A time-locked metal box holds clues to an exit point from the underground City of Ember whose electricity generator is about to conk out. But the corrupt mayor (Bill Murray) has other ideas.
Teens Lina (Saorise Ronan) and Doon (Harry Treadaway) are uncannily sharp in decoding the instructions.
Director Gil Kenan has created a grungy set that better belongs to a theatre stage. There's no sense of a city.
Not even Pullman or Tim Robbins can brighten a film stuck in a yesteryear tweeness. You soon want to join Martin Landau (as Sul) in his periodic kips.
In style it's a hark back to those old Doug McClure fantasy pics, and in theme rather similar to Logan's Run (but with lots of rust flakes). Verdict 2/5