Warcraft Movie Review

Released: May 30th 2016 (UK)

Length: 123 Minutes

Genre: Fantasy

Certificate: 12A

Director: Duncan Jones

Starring: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbel, Ben Schnetzer, Robert Kazinsky and Daniel Wu

Warcraft is the latest video game adaptation to hit the big screen, and despite the genre’s pedigree for hammering out lazy, poorly made movies, the opening chapter of Blizzard’s cinematic ventures is a surprisingly decent offering.

Warcraft takes place near the start of the game’s timeline and relays the prologue of the age old conflict between Orcs and men; with their own world all but destroyed by dark magic, the Orcs, led by the powerful warlock Gul’Dan (Daniel Wu), travel through a portal to Azeroth, the realm of men, elves and dwarves. A conflict begins to brew over a clash of interests; the races of Azeroth are peaceful and cooperative while the Orcs are brutish and war-mongering. From here key players in the battles to come must find a way towards peace for the good of their own people. It’s a story that’s easy to follow and understand but at the same time, many questions about the world as a whole will be raised by those who aren’t familiar with the games themselves. The film bounces between several locations and participating races which don’t receive any kind of development. There are many details that fans of the series will pick up on but we really don’t learn much about who the mages are or how the humans and their allies first rose to become such a powerful alliance of races. Some further elaboration on these topics would have gone a long way towards engaging a casual audience but as it stands, the story is easy to get into; which can’t be said for other films of its kind.

The characters in Warcraft are also very simple, though this ends up working mostly to their detriment. They’re very atypical of the fantasy genre; Lothar (Travis Fimmel) is the honourable human fighter and Durotan (Toby Kebbel) is the noble chieftain who disagrees with the way the Orcs are going. Similarly Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer) is the simple mage who rises to greater things and Garona (Paula Patton) is the bridge between the two peoples, much like Pocahontas. Warcraft gives us just enough information to know who the characters are and what they stand for but that’s about it; there’s little in the way of backstories and many of the more emotive moments don’t resonate very much because of a lack of proper build-up or development. There are hints of strong bonds between characters here; Lothar and his son draws a parallel with Durotan and his family, but the film doesn’t elaborate on these aspects very much. The other characters such as Durotan’s closest friend Orgrim (Robert Kazinsky), as well as the elves and dwarves are very underplayed which is a shame because their mannerisms and motivations and quite intriguing but aren’t followed through in this film. Had the characters been more well-rounded and developed, Warcraft could have carved itself a stronger space in the crowded fantasy space on film.

The CGI trailers put out by Blizzard over the years certainly sparked the imagination of how Warcraft would look on the big screen and the film offers a brilliant translation of this potential. The world of Azeroth and the creatures that inhabit it look stunning with some fantastic animation melding with the physical actors. Dazzling magic effects and collections of shimmering armour and weapons all have considerable amount of detail to them, proving that the filmmakers genuinely know and believe in the game series. It’s all incredibly faithful to the source material with a wide range of environments from the vast human cities to the gritty Orc camps. The cinematography makes a heavy use of long shots, creating an immense scale with some breath-taking views and scenery. Despite not being developed very well, the sheer size of Azeroth is a sight to behold. Iranian-German composer Ramin Jjawadi (best known for his work on Game of Thrones) scores the film and he creates a vivid soundtrack that brilliantly captures the sweeping scale of the game; it really comes into its own with the action scenes which further emphasise the size of the battles. It’s clear that the filmmakers made a great effort to replicate the feel of the games; even if you’re not a fan, Warcraft will still satisfy anyone looking for an exquisitely crafted fantasy world.

With its great look and straightforward story, Warcraft is able to look past the fact that its world and characters haven’t been properly established for newcomers. Fans well-acquainted with the games and lore can add an extra star; for everyone else, it’s simply an honest, well thought out effort and one of the better game adaptations to come out in years.

Rating: 3/5 Stars