Here’s the scoop: Warcraft is proof that video game adaptation movies are just getting started. As China’s showing us, they are BIG business and more importantly, fun business. That’s the review right there. This flick’s a clean 7 outta 10. Not earth-shattering but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t a good time.
Pros:
-The orc intro to the movie, right up ’til the Blizzard logo, is fantastic. If the rest of the movie had that level of “oomph” to it, it’d be movie of the year hands down. Sick introduction to the orcs and a great sense of impending doom to kick the flick off with.
-Durotan, the lead orc, is fantastic. I cared about him, an entirely CGI character, more than anyone else in the story by a mile and a half.
-Gul’dan is one hell of a villainous orc.
-The effects are very, very solid. Good CGI, far superior to the trashy visuals Marvel and DC seem to be content with churning out.
-The orcs have an insane sense of weight and heft to them, making every hammer smash against a human wince-inducing.
-Basically, the orcs are phenomenal all around.
Those five things honestly carry the movie enough for me to call it a good time. So when I list a million things down below in the cons (in no particular order), understand I’m not declaring Warcraft a death by a thousand cuts situation. It narrowly avoids that.
Cons:
-There’s a super forced, garbage romance subplot hinted at. Not every story needs romance.
-Travis Fimmel has no charisma and lacks the sense of leadership his character is supposed to radiate. As such, the next movie is going to be a skip on my part simply because he won’t have Durotan to balance the movie with.
-Paula Patton’s character could’ve been a cool warrior sister. Instead, her dialogue is written like trash and she doesn’t try all that hard to save it with a good performance.
-The ending is rushed as hell.
-The mages look like cosplaying geeks (with homemade cotton capes) plucked right from the game’s primary demographic.
-The movie does a poor job explaining the Fel, and why certain characters are so drawn to it. I still don’t know why the big twist character was so obsessed with it.
-The rock creature thing looks stupid and is the single CGI mishap present in the flick.
-The battles are underwhelming. Not to mention there’s more than a couple of moments where you can visibly make out extras just standing around instead of fighting their CGI foes. Takes you out of the moment instantly.
–*SPOILER* Gul’dan does so much shit against orc code that it requires constant self-induced lapses in logic to accept that he wasn’t overthrown by the end of the movie.
Surprises:
-The 3D was half-decent and actually helped communicate the orcs’ immense strength in fights.
In conclusion, go see Warcraft and support the best video game adaptation to date. Be a part of the dawn of kick-ass video game adaptations as we, the gaming community, usher in a new era of cinematic entertainment for the world to enjoy. Let’s watch orcs, assassins, blue hedgehogs, lombaxes and a whole host of other video game creations make their way over to the big screen in style.
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