WarCraft Film Review
“Lok’Tar Ogar!” Definitely a phrase an avid Warcraft fan would know immediately. But what about the general audience who knows absolutely nothing about the rich and storied mythology of the Warcraft universe? You might as well bring the Burning Legion up in here considering you are pretty much dead… dead confused. Still have no idea what I’m talking about? Or are you expecting Arthas Menethil and Illidan Stormrage to show up and fight each other as Arthas becomes the Lich King by taking control of the Scourge and challenging the Alliance and the Horde to attack him in Northrend? After spending countless hours (and money) on the Warcraft games over the years, WarCraft fans around the world finally get the movie we’ve been hoping for! Surely it would be amazing considering the incredible lore that Blizzard Entertainment has created for this 22-year-old franchise right?
After viewing the film with my guild… I mean friends, I thought the movie was very entertaining but lack-luster in terms of character development and relatability. What I found about this film (and hopefully potential franchise) is that I firmly believe that it would do better as a TV series. Bearing in mind, the WarCraft lore is so expansive that you can hardly flesh out these characters’ stories in a 2-hour movie. However, the director Duncan Jones (a WarCrafter himself) condensed the lore into a manageable two hours. As a huge WarCraft fan, I believed the movie did everything that the fans hoped it would. The Murloc in the swamp, the Polymorph on the guard, and all the other easter eggs (was that Sargeras?) that we see in the movie. Everything tied together rather nicely in my opinion. But I’m a WarCraft fan, so everything I’m saying right now makes absolute sense but not to someone who is a complete stranger to this material. And that is the reason why this movie will have a divisive response to casual movie-goers to fans like myself.
For review purposes, this film is based off Blizzard’s first WarCraft game, Orcs vs. Humans so don’t expect any World of Warcraft storylines bleeding through here. This movie is merely setting up for what’s to come from this potential WarCraft cinematic universe. Now let’s summarize the movie to a way a casual movie-goer can understand it. The Orcs are fleeing their dying homeland of Draenor through a portal created by Gul’Dan to the peaceful realm of Azeroth, where they wage a full-blown invasion on unsuspecting humans for control of the land. Orc Chieftain Durotan (played by Toby Kebell) questions the brutal ways of his kind which is led by warchief Blackhand (Clancy Brown) and the terrifying warlock Gul’Dan (Daniel Wu). Durotan believes a compromise without bloodshed could be reached but his brutish comrades feel otherwise. On this side of Azeroth, we have our human protagonist Anduin Lothar (played by Travis Fimmel) who is a knight solely devoted to serving his king and queen. We also meet Garona (Paula Patton) a half-orc, half-Draeni slave captured by the Orcs who escape and is captured once again but this time by humans in hopes of finding out why Orcs are here and what they want. We quickly learn that she is torn between two sides thus furthering the straightforward war conflict into a melodramatic drama where the audience is left wondering whose side she’s truly on.
Without spoiling too much of the film, the Orcs work hard to rescue this convoluted movie and they almost succeeded. These Orcs aren’t just big brutish monsters, there is a sense of weight and purpose to their simple conflicts that the rest of the film lacks. This film’s best dramatic moments are found in Durotan’s story and the impossible situation he finds himself in but then the climax of the film pushes his story aside in favor of a meandering human-centric conclusion that just leaves you at a future sequel prospect rather than resolving the story itself. Blizzard Entertainment has said it before that they prefer to tell stories about the Horde and there is a great reason for that: the Orcs are much more interesting than the Humans. If I would assume the way this film ended, we will see Thrall’s rise from Gladiator to Warchief which is arguably one of the best stories in the WarCraft lore and this movie is obviously teasing that for future sequels but leaving this film a mess instead. Unfortunately, we are left with a slew of protagonists all thrown at us at once but the film never settles on one long enough for any of them to make an impact. Too much all at once, but with what was shown and given to audience, it was entertaining enough to keep your eyes on the screen. WarCraft was a solid adaptation. Being a long-time fan of the franchise, I understood why the need for changes and honestly, it still worked. This is an honest work of love from people who loved the games and lore. As for those who are not privy to the lore, my friends enjoyed the movie and are now curious of the WarCraft universe. If you have a basic love of fantasy films and an ability to form your own opinions on things (looking at you, Rotten Tomato worshippers), you will enjoy this movie regardless if you’re a newbie to the world of WarCraft (pun intended) or a seasoned level 100 Blood-Elf Paladin with held items like Helm of the Ceaseless Vigil and Baleful Sword of the Decimator.
