MOVIE REVIEW: WARCRAFT
Oh great. It’s another movie based on a video game. I’ve never played even a second of World of Warcraft, and it’s been a LONG time since I’ve played any of the other Warcraft games that inspired this new movie. Can Warcraft break the video game movie curse? Can it shrug off the stench of Resident Evil, Tomb Raider and Ratchet and Clank????
Stunningly, yes. Yes it can.
After a blundering ad campaign and some bad reviews coming out, it seemed like this was destined to be a giant bomb and a terrible movie. The first twenty minutes or so of the movie really want to live up to that as it word vomits ungodly amounts of exposition and introduces characters and concepts nonstop. I felt like I needed a pen and paper to keep notes or at least a program, because of course, you can’t tell the players without a program.
Once the story slows the hell down and let’s you into the world it’s freaking great. Warcraft takes the time to introduce you to the characters and make you care about whats going on. The Orcs from the Horde are using evil magic to open a portal and take over another world where The Alliance lives and they want to stop them. There’s a lot more to it, but it’s very hard to discuss it without spoiling half the movie, so let’s say epic battles ensue.
Both sides of the conflict are given time to shine and character moments. Standout performances from Paula Patton as Garona and (WHAT) Dr. Doom over here, Toby Kebbell as Durotan (under a ton of CG). On the downside, even though I liked their work in the movie, the cutesy stunt casting of Dominic Cooper and Ruth Negga as an onscreen couple (again) took me out of the movie over and over.
When the action starts ramping up there are some bad ass action sequences that keep escalating in size, rivaling the best of the Lord of the Rings movies. There’s use of magic that looks good FXwise as well.
The special effects on the Orcs is amazing. God tier work on digital characters. There were a few moments where the action gets rubbery CG looking but they were few and far between. The evil Orc magician looks like really crappy CG at times too. Those couple of missteps couldn’t detract from the majority of the work on the film. The practical armor and weapons also look great. The kings sword look cool as hell, and if I knew anything about Warcraft I would probably be really excited about seeing it over and over in the movie.
If there is a downside to the movie, its that I can’t see this playing AT ALL with the general public. It’s nerdy as fuck. There is no way your coworkers or family are going to see this, and if they do, I wouldn’t be surprised if they hated it just from those first excruciating 20 minutes. With that comes the sad realization that this is going to bomb and we won’t get a sequel. I want more of this world, I want more adventures with these characters and the story the movie sets up for sequels.
Director Duncan Jones has done the near impossible by making Warcraft one hell of a sword and sorcery extravaganza. Jones lives up to his previous masterpiece Moon with his work here after a stumble with Source Code. If you love this genre, love Dungeons and Dragons, Lord of the Rings and, of course, the Warcraft games themselves, you will be on the edge of your seat.
4 out of 5
– Joey
