City of Ember, the most recent film from Walden Media, starts on a bit of a downer. In a post-apocalyptic era, a city has been built deep in the earth’s core, presumably to protect the human race from nuclear fallout. The great minds that created this underworld, City of Ember, have also come up with an exit plan to be initiated 200 years after the human race is sent below the surface. The plans for this escape are kept in a steel box with special key card and directions to help humans begin anew up top. In the course of the 200 years, the care of the metal box was passed down from mayor to mayor, each one given instructions of what to do once the 200 years is up. Unfortunately, one of the mayors died suddenly, taking the secrets to preserving humanity with him. When the film begins, the city is falling apart. The huge generator that powers the City of Ember is running out of juice, creating treacherous blackout; food is scarce; and the mayor of the City, a man who should have the citizens’ best interest in mind, is hoarding the scarce supplies for himself.

The heroes of City of Ember are two teenagers, Doon Harrow and Lina Mayfeet. As the film opens, Doon and Lina are assigned jobs, careers they are to hold for the rest of their lives. Doon, a highly intelligent young man, is in pipe works and Lina, a speedy girl, is a messenger. Doon, convinced that the generator is about to die, believes he knows how to fix it. Although he’d rather be an electrician, he takes advantage of his job, learning everything he can about the plumbing of the city and how it all connects to the generator. Meanwhile, Lina shines in her role as a messenger. It’s upon delivering a message to the Mayor that we discover that Lina is a direct descendant of the mayor who died. Soon thereafter, she discovers the metal box and the secrets to saving the human race. When Doon and Lina uncover how the mayor has been cheating and stealing from his people, they confront him only to be labeled treasonous and hunted by the authorities. Together, they alone must figure out the clues and unlock the secrets of the City of Ember. (more…)