Lazy Film Critic Movie Reviews
Warcraft
Okay, so after years of video game movies ranging from bad to horrible (the only exceptions being Silent Hill, Prince of Persia, Mortal Kombat, and maybe the first Resident Evil), at last in 2016 we are FINALLY getting a solid video game movie that is a truly great film and has everything for both fans and newcomers. I'm referring of course, to the upcoming Assassins Creed film. For now, we'll have to settle for Warcraft, the adaptation of what is arguably the most popular video game of all-time, to the point where it makes one question why only now is it getting a film.
In usual LFC fashion, let's talk about what's good in the film, because there is plenty of that. Firstly, the visual effects in this film are the best part. It is impossible to look at the effects of this film and not be absolutely stunned - floored, even - by the amount of detail and effort put into the motion capture characters of this film. Duncan Jones brings a lot of really top notch direction and cinematography to this film, which is something I've heard fairly universally. If nothing else, Warcraft looks great.
The acting in this movie is kind of a mixed bag. Some performances really work, others don't. Travis Fimmel and Toby Kebbel are both great in the lead roles, they bring probably the best talent to this film aside from Duncan Jones. Dominic Cooper is as good as ever, even if he's a bit miscast. The supporting cast, however, isn't so great. Nobody in the movie is bad or anything, but with the exception of the three I already mentioned, nobody does anything that noteworthy.
The writing and pacing is where this movie ultimatley lost me. At only two hours, Warcraft simply doesn't have enough time to tell the story its writers want to tell, and it shows through crammed exposition, an inconsistent tone, choppy editing, and a convoluted plot. Much like Batman v Superman, Warcraft suffers at its most from the fact that its telling a story with more content than the running time allows, and it feels like a lot of really important scenes were either cut out of the script, or cut out of the final cut of the film. And if it's the latter, I really hope there's a directors cut.
Something I've been hearing a lot - and I have to agree with - is that this movie is not made for newcomers. Being someone who's never played a World of Warcraft game in my entire life, I didn't know this world. Watching this movie as a newcomer feels like I'm just starting Game of Thrones on the most recent episode, I don't know the significance of the characters or story but I'm given to information to help me understand and I'm not familiar enough with these characters to care during the more dramatic, emotional moments. However, unlike Game of Thrones, this is the first entry into a film series, so I'm treating it as such.
Final Rating
Is Warcraft terrible? Not really, it has enough good in it to give it a pass. Is it great? Absolutely not. I wasn't expecting this to be the best video game movie ever made (Silent Hill and Prince of Persia will likely hold that spot unlike Hollywood gets it together and realizes how great a Last of Us movie would be), but better than the end result would have been nice. If you're a fan of the games, go check it out, you'll probably like it more than I did. If you're like me, and have no experience with this world, skip it.
Is Warcraft terrible? Not really, it has enough good in it to give it a pass. Is it great? Absolutely not. I wasn't expecting this to be the best video game movie ever made (Silent Hill and Prince of Persia will likely hold that spot unlike Hollywood gets it together and realizes how great a Last of Us movie would be), but better than the end result would have been nice. If you're a fan of the games, go check it out, you'll probably like it more than I did. If you're like me, and have no experience with this world, skip it.
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