Review of Warcraft (2016) by Simone S — 29 Aug 2016

It's 2003 and Return of the King is set to come out. In preparation for it, my mom plays the first two movies for us, films I had never seen before. As the camera swept across Middle Earth, as elves and dwarves and demons fought their way across the screen, I felt lost. In a good way! Suddenly, there's a whole new world, fully lived-in, serving as a backdrop for this epic adventure. To me, Warcraft felt similar.

Of course, to make a direct comparison to Lord of the Rings would be beyond foolish. I'm simply saying that it's been quite some time since we've had an incredibly detailed fantasy world like that on the big screen. I believe that Warcraft not only successfully fills that void, but is also engaging and absorbing.

However, there's clear issues with the editing and pacing, especially in the beginning. I fully believe that anything they deleted should have been kept in; it seems like they edited the movie with the thought of "What's the bare minimum amount of explanation we can give?". It's easy to understand for people well-versed in fantasy, but I can see where it would turn the average moviegoer off. There is at least one subplot that could have just been excised in favor of more scenes of fleshing out the setting.

I hope we see more of these movies. I think we all need more sweeping fantasy epics in our lives. 7/10.