Review of Warcraft (2016) by Edmund P — 03 Mar 2017

Warcraft: Immerse Yourself in the World.

When people go to see Warcraft, they need to understand what this movie set out to do: turn an MMORPG (Massive Multi-player Online Role-Playing Game) into a live-action movie. Director Duncan Jones does a great job of portraying what Warcraft was intended to be: a fantasy adventure that is totally over the top, because it is suppose to be over the top. Remember, this is a movie based off of a video game played by millions of young people who have quite literally grown into adulthood while playing this game over the past 12 years. So, yes, the armaments may seem a bit ostentatious and the characters may seem a bit underdeveloped at times, but the movie holds true to Warcraft. In the game you get to explore sprawling cities, travel through forests and mountains, and become immersed in the war between Orcs and Humans. This movie brings all of that to life on the big screen.

I, personally, have several max level characters in the game, and I was extremely excited to see how the Warcraft movie was going to represent the world that I love. And Duncan Jones did not disappoint. Jones gives plenty of spectacular views of the world for those both familiar and unfamiliar with Warcraft to marvel in it's extensiveness. He uses the cinematography and special effects to bring this movie to life. With panoramic views of the cities of Stormwind and Ironforge and the breadth of detail given to them, they have become real places that you want to visit and walk around in. And you feel as if you could. Even if you have never played the game, these two cities show how enchanting this world can be. And the rest of the world is just as well developed as the cities and hosts a variety of nostalgic memories for the devout players of the game. The visual graphics of the magic are even more impressive than those of the cities. The wonderful array of colors and lights let you know when magic is happening because there is no subtlety to be found there.

As for the characters in this film, the biggest surprise was Durotan (Toby Kebbell from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), an orc chieftan. This one character shows that the orcs are not just bloodthirsty warmongers, but are living, breathing creatures who worry about their families, their clans, and the global consequences of their actions. The humans, on the other hand, are not given much room to expound their characters. King Llayne Wrynn (Dominic Cooper from Captain America: The First Avenger and the television show Agent Carter) has no character development throughout the movie, making his final scene lackluster at best. The character Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel who plays Ragnar Lothbrock on Vikings) is your typically suave knight with a scarred history of losing the people he loves. Fimmel plays the part superbly, there just isn't a lot for him to work with character-wise.

Overall, Warcraft is a pleasure for the senses, with it's stunning panoramic views and extremely believable cities. Although some of the costuming might seem unrealistic, it does give the movie that in-game feel that the target audience is looking for. There are also a few gems thrown in that leave those of us that have played the game feeling satisfied. And for those that have never played the game, enjoy this movie for what it is: a film adaptation of an MMORPG,.