The movie is based on a 2003 novel by Jeanne Duprau which I haven’t have a chance to read yet.  I have favorable impression on the movie especially on the characters, but the movie itself seems incomplete.  I am not sure if it’s because of the source material (it’s a series after all), it just seems to me that there is not much resolution.  It’s like they spend so much time setting up the story and the characters, and then they get out and that’s the end!  Certain plot points in the beginning also went without any explanation: what about that guy who come from the dark region and got arrested? What about that weird horn thing from some kind of giant insect? If there’s a dark region that anyone dare to go can go, does that mean there’s other “exits”? You are telling me for 200 years no one invent and improve on anything? Why the heck did the Builders built a water theme park boat ride for the citizen to escape? Can’t they be less dramatic??? And then there’s the biggest question of all – what exactly happened before the Builders build Ember? What disaster happened??

To me it just seems like everything goes unanswered.  If there’s guarantee to have a sequel then fine~ but most of these young adult fantasy novel turns movies have no such guarantee – just look at Eragon, Golden Compass, Dark is Rising, Spiderwick, etc.  It’s a shame, cos I am hooked to wonder what happened next, but given the box office performance, I doubt we will find out on screen.

Time to hit that book series I suppose!