It’s been awhile since theatres saw the release of a decent fantasy flick, and the recent release “City of Ember” is only too eager to fill that gap.

This children’s fantasy, based on the novel by Jeanne Duprau, entails the story of an underground city built to sustain the life of humans, in essence an ecosystem full of food and water.

With underlying themes of darkness and claustrophobia, this PG-rated film is sure to take you on a bumpy ride. Co-written by Tim Burton and Caroline Thompson, the story is interlaced with strong family ties and the desire to escape what is considered normal in an authoritarian society.

For more than 200, this underground city, illuminated only by lamps, has sustained its existence on one special and powerful source, the Generator.

The city’s mayors have also passed down from generation to generation the secret to the Generator, lest it should fail. But that secret has long been lost and the peoples’ greatest fears have come to pass; the Generator is failing.

The city of Ember is in grave danger of losing all its light and going into darkness.

Enormous, underground monsters are creeping in to destroy the peace that the city of Ember has enjoyed for so long.

It is up to two youths, Doon Harrow (Harry Treadway), a curious boy who is strives to learn more about his surroundings, and Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan), a girl who just loves to go fast, to unlock a mysterious puzzle and save Ember.

While the two leads are relatively unknown, the film does sport some considerable star power.

Tim Robbins plays Loris Harrow, father to Doon Harrow, becomes entangled in the plot when it is discovered that he is part of a special group who was trying to escape the city years ago. Bill Murray plays Mayor Cole, the film’s antagonist, utterly consumed with maintaining the status quo and his own power.

All in all, this is a pretty decent movie and if nothing else should be watched for the sole purpose of the chase scene.

The plot runs along lines similar to that of “National Treasure” in that most of the action involves the solving of complex puzzles and overcoming adversity by being clever.

It is definitely aimed at a younger audience, but older moviegoers won’t necessarily walk away unsatisfied.

Unfortunately, the movie does not give a lot of background information as to why the people were in the underground city in the first place. One could assume that this is explained in greater detail in the novel, but that doesn’t do moviegoers any good.

It is not an amazing movie, but if you have some spare time in your day, it is worth seeing.

If you are looking for a great, feel-good movie, this is it.