Review of Warcraft (2016) by Lonewolfsones — 11 Jun 2016

As a fan of the Warcraft games (Both RTS and MMO) for over 10 years now I wear my bias on my sleeve. The film's greatest strength is in the love and care that have gone into adapting this world for the big screen. Its a difficult task to try and distill over 20 years of lore and storytelling from one medium to another. Even more difficult is trying to tell a coherent story from this material in the space of two hours. The film largely succeeds in doing so despite a few stumbles.

Blizzard and Duncan Jones wisely chose to start from the beginning. The story is fairly simple but serviceable. If I had one criticism its that the story is fairly generic compared to those found in later games. But that isn't a slight against the film as the movie is a faithful adaptation of that story. It wasn't until Warcraft 3 that I really felt that the storytelling really became interesting.

The film can be a bit too fast paced in the beginning of the film which I do think may be disorienting to those who are not familiar with the lore. However I do feel that casual moviegoers can still have fun with it if they allow the film to exist on its own. If you can divorce yourself from the idea that the LotR is the standard of fantasy films I think you can have a great time with it and become invested in its characters.

The cast does a great job of bringing these characters to life in my opinion. Durotan and Drakka are notable standouts. Lothar and Khadgar have decent chemistry between them and I would have even liked to have seen more of it. I know Ben Schnetzer has been criticized in other reviews but I actually quite liked him as Khadgar. Another casting choice I have seen criticized is Ben Foster's Medivh. Again I actually thought he put in a decent part as Medivh. I would be remiss however if I didn't give praise for Daniel Wu's Guldan. They captured Guldan's cunning and ruthlessness perfectly.

The special effects are quite special indeed. I really do think the effects are a visual feast for the eyes. I saw the film in 3D and I even liked the extra sense of depth it added to the experience. I never really was taken out of the film by something looking fake or out of place. I found myself easily immersed in this lovingly crafted world.

The score was solid as well. If you have played the games you will recognize familiar themes from the games as well as some original music. The fantastic audio extends to the sound effects as well. Punches feel like they have power behind them and even the sword strikes and magic carry spectacular weight through the sound design.

Its worth noting that there is an abundance of fan service in the film and it never really felt too on the nose but there were some very clever subtle uses of it. Some of these may be lost on casual movie goers but I don't think they will detract from anyone's enjoyment of the film.

In the end Warcraft is a solid fantasy film and one I recommend to any fan of the property. For die hard lore fans there are some changes made to the lore but they too never detract from this adaptation. If you are a casual moviegoer my advice is to just go into the movie with an open mind. Not every movie has to be a Lord of the Rings. I do hope we see sequels so that we can get the Lich King on screen someday.