Better than I expected. In fact the best movie I've seen this year

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2013)

(This review contains what might be called spoilers--vague references only.) I read the book six months ago, anticipating the movie and I thought it was a perfect adaptation, but then I understand the limitations of movie adaptation. Yes, I would have liked to see more zero gravity competitions. Yes, I would have enjoyed the Demosthenes & Locke story line. Yes, I would have liked to see elements of Ender's Shadow (which I have not read yet) with an expanded role for Bean. Yes, I would have liked concrete references to the ultimate fate of Bonzo & Stilson. However the strategies of other zero gravity competitions would have been less obvious visually than explained in the book and would have only weighted the movie down. The Demosthenes & Locke story line would have made the movie slower. Including Ender's Shadow would have made the movie 3+ hours which rarely works with a major blockbuster. Only the revelation of Bonzo & Stilson's fate would have added less than a minute and made the movie a little more chilling.
As it was the experience was very moving. It was a skillfully told story. An essential part of good storytelling is--not lying but--deception. The viewer or reader must understand the character's point of view and, in most instances, be convinced, whether said character is deceived or deceiving. That aspect, so essential in the novel, plays out in full and equal force in the movie as well.
Concerning the performances, Harrison Ford--will still did an excellent job as always--was actually the least convincing. I believe this stems from his character's affection for Ender in the book and his obligation of self-restriction. He struggles between the taciturn military demeanor that he feels he must maintain and his desire to connect with the pure and innocent Ender who is being manipulated into evil in the name of an imagined necessity. It seems that Colonel Graff his hiding from his own conscience behind his fear and he consciously believes that destroying the Formics and warring will bring peace when war can only bring war.
I will say that I noticed a complete absence of the word 'Buggers' in reference to the Formics. Perhaps it was done to avoid offense but they are bugs and the 'us-vs.-them' mentality is ingrained into the societal psyche. The natural outcome of such closed-minded thinking is offensive name-calling and aggressively destructive behavior, but I think that its absence from the movie is a small injustice though I understand the reasoning behind the virtue of erring on the safe side.