Let’s just get this right out, role-playing source games are something I am really not a big fan of, but looking at those amazing teasers definitely got my interest ticking. The much awaited movie of summer for Blizzard’s Warcraft online game fan is finally here.
Well, this movie is all about the clash between orcs and humans and but the real struggle that I could see was with the idea that filmmakers played with, trying to bring soul into the storyline and end up ridiculously due to all the inherent commodities they were working with. Warcraft takes a straight dive into the magical realm with magical spells, mythical creatures, exotic names of places and characters, leaving a non-gamer like me wondering if I could really get through this movie or just get through the door(it is quite tough to understand in the beginning).
Definitely, this movie is a dream-come-true for devotees of this Blizzard game and must have been altogether a different experience. If that’s the case, Universal should keep hoping that these devotees keep storming the theatres and quite often. Or else, it can be the biggest dud for the studio.
Getting back to the CGI realm, the movie is focused on the world of orcs, which is eventually dying. So the dark mage Gul’dan(Daniel Wu) opens a portal to Azeroth, which is the realm of humans. Then the orcs plan on capturing more humans whose souls can be used to power up the portal so more and more orcs can be brought to Azeroth. But this doesn’t settle well with the orc chieftain Durotan(Toby Kebbel) and his friend Orgrim(Robert Kazinsky) – questions the brutal ways – sees the dark magic Gul’dan is using called “The Fel”. This makes him believe that the only way to save their people, is by uniting with humans. King Llane(Dominic Cooper) along with his bruh-in-law Lothar(Travis Fimmel) lead the humans, assisted by the mage Medivh(Ben Foster), half-human Garona(Paula Patton) and the mage in-training Khadgar(Ben Schnetzer).
Writing all this, makes me feel disputed about Warcraft. There are just so many characters to see and understand each one of their motives. Duncan Jones’ ambitious is really high with this movie but somehow it just crumbles up to be nothing, or just basic.
There are so many plots it reels up from the game and end up servicing none the better of it. Characters motivation is so tangled that at a point I thought that it will built up to something interesting or even villainous, but returns to be basic. Playing around with so many ideas in his head, Jones failed to deliver the original idea of the game. That would have been the brownie point or let’s just say it would have made every non-gamer look up the internet more about Warcraft.
I totally admire Jones’ effort to portray both the sides of the war and try to get everyone empathize with orcs but failed to do so. I really wanted to see more of Medivh’s story not because of Ben Foster, he is totally terrific(as all the times) but wanted to see the storyline develop between the elder guardian and Khadgar. It could have happened if story did not just keep jumping around and between soooooo many characters(exhausting to keep track sometimes).
The only gets your money worth is the fully crafted world. CGI can definitely make magic look tinny-winny at times. The detailed work of Azeroth is something that will make every Warcraft fan appropriate n fully glory. Though is it a loss for people like me who are unfamiliar with the lore and fail to see how great it is!
To sum it up, truly admire Duncan Jones’ attempt to bring a video-game into the realm of movies, but how many directors have done that successful adaption. Having a rich setting doesn’t seem to compensate for lack of a good story. As the movie ends with a promise for a sequel, I don’t know if returning for it is a good idea because even this “the beginning” couldn’t make me focus on the movie.