A Well-Made Adaptation of an Excellent Novel

Rating: 9/10 (1 November 2013)

I have been a tremendous fan of the Ender saga since I was a child and as a result this film was kind of nerve-racking for me: Will it be good? Will it be Percy Jackson? Needless to say most of my worries were generally needless as this was a well-made film.
Visually the film does what it sets out to do quite well, bringing to life (and to a 21st century imagination)many of the things illustrated in the novel quite nicely. The CG, for the most part, is fantastic. There are a few parts where things look plastic, but nothing too distracting. All in all, looks good.
But how's the acting? As expected, Harrison Ford delivers, and the actors playing the children do their job fairly well. My only complaint is the lack of limelight going to pretty much anybody but the protagonist since, for the most part, a lot of these characters are really well fleshed out and interesting in the novels. But for what they were given, they delivered.
The film is surprisingly faithful to the novel as well. It is about as faithful as it could be, what with having to condense a 300 page novel that takes place over the course of several years into a two hour film. Naturally some things were cut or streamlined to keep the story engaging, and few parts if any really overstayed their welcome. Some scenes felt a bit rushed, but all in all, the film is faithful to the novel while bearing in mind the need to keep the pace going for an audience that is unfamiliar with the novel.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable film from the perspective of a huge fan of the novel, and it feels as if it would be enjoyed by a casual crowd as well, but a few minor gripes and shortcomings hold it back from perfection. 9/10