Warcraft (2016)

[Lancelot Gold]

The funniest and best part of the movie sadly was missed by non-WoW players. That awesome 5 second shot of the murloc.  

 

The way they shifted to understanding what the orcs were saying and not understanding the humans and back again was subtle, but great directing. I really enjoyed that for some reason. The fact that the horde and alliance can't understand each in WoW (your chat text is shown as gibberish in game to the opposing faction) made this a nice touch.

 

Why wouldn't his armor be the nicest? He's the king. They always have the shiniest and nicest armor. 

 

A lot of the complaints I'm seeing are things that needed to be done to make this a accurate movie adaption. Changing it would be wrong and essentially pulling a Uwe Boll.

 

No complaints about the acting. The comparisons to merlin, robin hood and once upon a time acting to imply it's bad is funny. Mainly because I love/d those shows. If it wasn't for merlin being as good as it was, I never would have watched Doctor Who. I will forever be grateful for that! 

[K1stpierre]

Just saw it last night, and I walked in with the lowest expectations........and unfortunately I wasn't proved corrected. 

 

First of all, the movie felt nothing like the game for me, I mean seriously how lazy are the writers/director for making all the characters 95% all warriors and the last 5% because 2 mages and whatever you wanna call the villain (I consider him a mage too). I mean really would it have been hard for the creators to just start with the basics and introduce SOME of the classes like maybe a rogue? (now come on, that would of been pretty badass to see) A hunter? Priest? Hell why not just make one of the warriors at least a Paladin for christ's sake. I know perhaps they couldn't do all of em, but would a little variety help? Jeez, it was just so boring seeing a billion boring warriors over an over again just fighting swords and axes. For example the first battle in Elwynn forest with the horde could have soooooo better had you have variety styles of fighting (warriors fighting with swords, say maybe a warlock range fighting with spells and even a pet, or you could have had a hunter with a bow and arrow badassing it. It would of even been cool to see a priest actually maybe healing someone to add another big detail of how the game works). It just seemed so lazy and it took my already low expectations even lower.

 

Secondly, again with the characters, none of them stood out to me. I really felt like they really just through a bunch of characters at us and didn't bother to really give them much merit. I guess Durotan maybe stood a bit out, but then against the rest were so dull that I'm not if he's standing out really do to him being interesting or if it's just a lack of interesting characters around him. I found the whole romance between Garona and the main character (not really bothered to look up his name as he wasn't really interesting to remember period) to be kind of weird and just plain awkward. The scene where he loses his son was just not emotional what so ever, because again I felt no connection what so ever.

 

I just feel like the movie would have been so much better had they just tried simplifying it a bit rather than going in a bunch of different directions and too many characters have motives. That shit works in sequels because you have an understanding of them and have world building. Throwing a whole bunch of shit in a first movie just makes it complicated and really just bad. Being a horde fan, I actually would of loved this movie better had they made this from the perspective of the Alliance, flesh out and introduce characters perhaps a warrior like the main character, but also have like I said others such as a rogue, warlock, and so forth (maybe like 4 or them?) and perhaps just focus on life on one side (aka alliance, just because for a movie's sake it would help the general audience who doesn't play the game learn it better rather than going to the horde side) and getting to know the cities like Stormwind, Ironforge, and so forth (one of the bright things the movie did was making the cities look identical to the game). Would it make audiences look badly on the horde? Yeah it probably would, and I wouldn't mind it as guess what, you can always explain their side later in the movie or hell better yet save the twist for the sequel, thus the sequel being more horde orientated. 

 

I just feel like this movie in terms of story telling was totally rushed and seemed to skip so much from the games. It's almost as if they're just rushing through material just so they can get to Lich King. Even some of the CGI work in this wasn't great, like when they rode they Hippogryph it just looked really fake to me, not a very good cgi. Music at least was good, but again it's one of the few things going for it.

 

To sum it up, I knew that it was going to have flaws considering how enormous of a Game it is and how much story there is, but god it just looked like they didn't even try to incorporate even the biggest details of the game into this. I'm hugely dissapointed. I give this a big fat solid D and and an overall score of 4/10.   

[K1stpierre]

6 hours ago, lancelot123 said:

The funniest and best part of the movie sadly was missed by non-WoW players. That awesome 5 second shot of the murloc.  

 

 

 

 OMG YES!!! I laughed so hard at the beginning when you quickly saw a Murlock running with that fucking annoying voice. I made a joke with my sister (who also played the game) that if the movie had a murlock in it, even for a second, it would just automatically be awesome because of how annoying those fuckers were.

 

Of course.......it was in fact NOT the most awesome movie......but at least I got my murlock shot.

[Omario]

21 minutes ago, K1stpierre said:

Just saw it last night, and I walked in with the lowest expectations........and unfortunately I wasn't proved corrected. 

 

First of all, the movie felt nothing like the game for me, I mean seriously how lazy are the writers/director for making all the characters 95% all warriors and the last 5% because 2 mages and whatever you wanna call the villain (I consider him a mage too). I mean really would it have been hard for the creators to just start with the basics and introduce SOME of the classes like maybe a rogue? (now come on, that would of been pretty badass to see) A hunter? Priest? Hell why not just make one of the warriors at least a Paladin for christ's sake. I know perhaps they couldn't do all of em, but would a little variety help? Jeez, it was just so boring seeing a billion boring warriors over an over again just fighting swords and axes. For example the first battle in Elwynn forest with the horde could have soooooo better had you have variety styles of fighting (warriors fighting with swords, say maybe a warlock range fighting with spells and even a pet, or you could have had a hunter with a bow and arrow badassing it. It would of even been cool to see a priest actually maybe healing someone to add another big detail of how the game works). It just seemed so lazy and it took my already low expectations even lower.

 

Secondly, again with the characters, none of them stood out to me. I really felt like they really just through a bunch of characters at us and didn't bother to really give them much merit. I guess Durotan maybe stood a bit out, but then against the rest were so dull that I'm not if he's standing out really do to him being interesting or if it's just a lack of interesting characters around him. I found the whole romance between Garona and the main character (not really bothered to look up his name as he wasn't really interesting to remember period) to be kind of weird and just plain awkward. The scene where he loses his son was just not emotional what so ever, because again I felt no connection what so ever.

 

I just feel like the movie would have been so much better had they just tried simplifying it a bit rather than going in a bunch of different directions and too many characters have motives. That shit works in sequels because you have an understanding of them and have world building. Throwing a whole bunch of shit in a first movie just makes it complicated and really just bad. Being a horde fan, I actually would of loved this movie better had they made this from the perspective of the Alliance, flesh out and introduce characters perhaps a warrior like the main character, but also have like I said others such as a rogue, warlock, and so forth (maybe like 4 or them?) and perhaps just focus on life on one side (aka alliance, just because for a movie's sake it would help the general audience who doesn't play the game learn it better rather than going to the horde side) and getting to know the cities like Stormwind, Ironforge, and so forth (one of the bright things the movie did was making the cities look identical to the game). Would it make audiences look badly on the horde? Yeah it probably would, and I wouldn't mind it as guess what, you can always explain their side later in the movie or hell better yet save the twist for the sequel, thus the sequel being more horde orientated. 

 

I just feel like this movie in terms of story telling was totally rushed and seemed to skip so much from the games. It's almost as if they're just rushing through material just so they can get to Lich King. Even some of the CGI work in this wasn't great, like when they rode they Hippogryph it just looked really fake to me, not a very good cgi. Music at least was good, but again it's one of the few things going for it.

 

To sum it up, I knew that it was going to have flaws considering how enormous of a Game it is and how much story there is, but god it just looked like they didn't even try to incorporate even the biggest details of the game into this. I'm hugely dissapointed. I give this a big fat solid D and and an overall score of 4/10.   

 

 

Mostly agree. Didnt feel like warcraft. I blame the human actors. They were just so bad. So so bad. The movie needed to be atleast 30 mins longer to atleast flesh some of these characters out. Also the armour for the humans was so clean and shiny. Had these guys ever seen battle before?

Edited June 10, 2016 by Omario

[Lancelot Gold]

2 hours ago, Omario said:

Also the armour for the humans was so clean and shiny. Had these guys ever seen battle before?

They had 6 years of peace. 

[4815162342]

3 hours ago, K1stpierre said:

It's almost as if they're just rushing through material just so they can get to Lich King.

 

Huh? They didn't even go through with all of the plot of the first game, in which the bulk of the Orc Horde actually ends up crossing from Draenor and the Orcs sack Stormwind and force Lothar/Khadgar/the other scattered survivors to flee to Lordaeron.

 

There's several movies of material before we get to Arthas' ascension to the Frozen Throne.

Edited June 10, 2016 by 4815162342

[K1stpierre]

1 hour ago, 4815162342 said:

 

Huh? They didn't even go through with all of the plot of the first game, in which the bulk of the Orc Horde actually ends up crossing from Draenor and the Orcs sack Stormwind and force Lothar/Khadgar/the other scattered survivors to flee to Lordaeron.

 

There's several movies of material before we get to Arthas' ascension to the Frozen Throne.

 

Oh I know but I have a hard time seeing the producers taking their time to go through it, it seems to me like they would skip it......that is if there even are going to be sequels at this point.

[RobinHood26]

Better than the Hobbit 3. The movie itself is basically fine, it has issues, but what holds it back is just the most uninspired, stone faced, wooden acting, looks like minimal effort in that department.

Little bit too much of a set up movie, but I enjoyed some other directorial decisions (like the opening shot) Visuals were fun. Music was mostly epic.

Also all the cross fades seemed way to fast, some awkward transitions.

 

C+ (78.5)

[CJohn]

3 hours ago, 4815162342 said:

 

Huh? They didn't even go through with all of the plot of the first game, in which the bulk of the Orc Horde actually ends up crossing from Draenor and the Orcs sack Stormwind and force Lothar/Khadgar/the other scattered survivors to flee to Lordaeron.

 

There's several movies of material before we get to Arthas' ascension to the Frozen Throne.

Yeah, we are not gonna get 5 or 6 sequels. If we are lucky we get one. And we need to be very, very lucky. 

[Olive]

This movie almost make the lame hobbit movies masterpieces..

1/10

[4815162342]

11 hours ago, K1stpierre said:

 

Oh I know but I have a hard time seeing the producers taking their time to go through it, it seems to me like they would skip it......that is if there even are going to be sequels at this point.

 

Well then I guess we'll have to wait for a MTG movie to activate a fantasy film bond

[The Panda]

18 hours ago, Olive said:

This movie almost make the lame hobbit movies masterpieces..

1/10

 

[The Panda]

The Panda's Apology (for those who may miss it) from the weekend thread

 

I have awoken... And it appears I have an apology to make....

 

You may have noticed this weekend, I haven't actually been myself... You may have heard me say, "Warcraft is my favorite movie of all time," but let me start from the beginning.

 

Earlier this Thursday I began delving and searching for a way for the forum to see how crazy some of the fanboys really were, and I believe I delved into some "magic" I shouldn't have in the deep Bamboo forest.  I know it's not excuse, I was just fed up with the constant "Civil War is the best movie ever!", "If you didn't like BvS you're a hater!", I wanted the forum to know. 

 

Anyways, when I went to see Warcraft later that night I was overtaken...  And corrupted by the Fel...  Out of desperation it appears I had discovered the Fel and was overtaken, and it consumed me like it had consumed Medivh and Gul'dan, and I became a raging, vile Warcraft fanboy.  

 

With the help of that one Mage in the Warcraft movie who wasn't Ben Foster (but still sucked at acting), I have managed to escape the clutches of the Fel, and have gained my sanity back.  I'm sorry to say, but you shouldn't trust anything I said about Warcraft since, well I saw Warcraft on Thursday night.

 

Now that my sanity has returned, I must say, Warcraft is not my favorite movie of all time.  Not even close.  But I have talked to long, and I will post my full, real review in the Warcraft review thread in a little bit.

 

Hopefully, I never turn into what the worst this forum has to offer ever again.

 

Now for my real review...

 

While this isn't an A+++++ movie, or even just an A++ movie, I did enjoy the movie overall.  My overall assertion before I begin is if you're a Warcaft fan, you'll definitely like the movie and you should see it on the big screen, if not there's still enjoyment to be had (but the movie is deeply flawed.)

 

First the bad parts

 

1.The movie needs more.  Not just that it should have been longer, but the movie feels incomplete.  It feels as if there are 30-45 minutes missing from the movie, as if they were intended to be there but cut for time.  As a result, the film feels very jumpy (which indicates there's a much, much stronger directors cut sitting unrevealed somewhere).  There are parts where it really throws you off, such as with the romance coming out of nowhere and feeling underdeveloped, or the fact that the fight with Medivh randomly starts with no initial confrontation to indicate a fight had even begun.  This itself is the biggest flaw in the movie, and as a reviewer its something I can't look past no matter how much I actually did enjoy some of the other parts.

 

2.The human side of the story is very flawed.  Only Lothar and the Queen standout as being somewhat fleshed out characters, the rest feel like cartoonish caricatures.  I understand Warcraft, and understand that's the style of the game, but it wasn't presented in a way where somebody who wasn't familiar with the game was going to buy it.

 

3.The movie doesn't do a great job at setting itself up for non-Warcraft fans.  As a previous WoW and Warcraft player I was able to jump right in and suspend my disbelief, but I can tell that if you hadn't ever touched a Warcraft game before this movie would be off-putting because not only is the world weird (even if this is before the world gets off the walls wack, which is partly why I loved the games) it doesn't really explain much beyond "Orcs are aliens from a dying world, want to kill everything because of evil Magic!"

 

Those are my main complaints, but now for the good stuff

 

1.The visual effects are astounding.  While Id say this should get an Oscar nod for visuals, I'm doubting it really will, simply because of the reputation the movie got with critics (but I could be wrong and surprised).  

 

2.The action sequences are a hell of a lot of fun.  Especially as a fan, to see the action play out how it feels in the games is a blast to watch.  The magic is really cool to watch, and Orcs smashing is great.  They are also shot in a gritty, yet fun manner.  It was the most fun action I've seen this year.

 

3.As a Warcraft fan, I was sucked in.  The world is realized incredibly well.  I know nostalgia is rather empty, but I couldn't help but grin to see these games I had played for a large portion of my life years back come to life.  

 

4.I loved Ramin Djawadi's score.  While it's not a technically brilliant awards winner, it was exhilarating and hearing the game themes weaved in with his original work was cool.

 

5.The orcs (especially Durotan) were charismatic, breathing creatures and had a very engaging story.  Any scene focused on the orcs was on a very high Duncan Jones level of greatness.  

 

6.Durotan and Gul'dan's throwdown scene was the highlight of the movie it should have been.  It knocked an emotional punch (that could have hit harder if we had 30 minutes more of material), and it was very well done.

 

7.This movie had so much potential for actual greatness.  It was just uneven and underdeveloped (plus a weak script on the human side, and overall weak actors on the human side).  There were so many moments where I was like, "that moment was executed very well, I just wish they had the development prior to make this more impactful."

 

Overall, If you're a Warcraft fan you'll definitely like the movie (maybe even love it) and be able to look past the flaws, if not it'll be an uneven experience at best.

 

As a fan Id want to give it a B+ or so, but my logical side says the movie is to inherently flawed in its current state to warrant much past a C.  So I'll give it three grades

 

If you're a Warcraft fan: B+

If you're not: C

My Personal Grade: B-

[Water Bottle]

I thought the movie was going to be bad but it was actually a lot of fun and really leaves you pumped for a sequel.

 

B+

[Water Bottle]

On 6/10/2016 at 0:35 PM, K1stpierre said:

First of all, the movie felt nothing like the game for me, I mean seriously how lazy are the writers/director for making all the characters 95% all warriors and the last 5% because 2 mages and whatever you wanna call the villain (I consider him a mage too). I mean really would it have been hard for the creators to just start with the basics and introduce SOME of the classes like maybe a rogue? (now come on, that would of been pretty badass to see) A hunter? Priest? Hell why not just make one of the warriors at least a Paladin for christ's sake. I know perhaps they couldn't do all of em, but would a little variety help? Jeez, it was just so boring seeing a billion boring warriors over an over again just fighting swords and axes. For example the first battle in Elwynn forest with the horde could have soooooo better had you have variety styles of fighting (warriors fighting with swords, say maybe a warlock range fighting with spells and even a pet, or you could have had a hunter with a bow and arrow badassing it. It would of even been cool to see a priest actually maybe healing someone to add another big detail of how the game works). It just seemed so lazy and it took my already low expectations even lower.

 

That's cause in the first Warcraft game, which this game is adapting from, that's pretty much the units you had: warriors (and some archers). So it's actually staying pretty faithful.

[BK007]

It's mediocre though it tries to be good.

 

Saw it in the cinema, so that's some token support for a non-sequel film in this summer starve.

[snitch]

As a fan, i loved it! It is flawed, mainly because there are parts that are missing  (the extended edition can't come soon enough!). Of course , that is Universal and Legendary's fault, not Duncan Jones. 

The human characters worked for me, at least most of them - i thought Ben Foster and Ben Schnetzer did a fine job.  I was mostly dissapointed with D. Cooper - still horrible in every movie he has been (or the ones i have seen him in). 

As others said - the CGI, the orcs, the world building , the magic, the grit - it is there and it is awesome.

The humor really worked, my theater exploded when Khadgar turned the swordsman into a sheep. 

 

My wife knew nothing of WarCraft and loved it , rate it 9/10

I would rate it 8/8.5 out of 10.

[RobinHood26]

On June 10, 2016 at 3:42 PM, 4815162342 said:

 

Huh? They didn't even go through with all of the plot of the first game, in which the bulk of the Orc Horde actually ends up crossing from Draenor and the Orcs sack Stormwind and force Lothar/Khadgar/the other scattered survivors to flee to Lordaeron.

 

 

Sounds like a better ending

[4815162342]

4 minutes ago, Jay Hollywood said:

 

Sounds like a better ending

 

I can see though why they didn't go as downbeat though with that and Garona/Llane, it's more GA-friendly their way.

[Kalo]

I've never played World of Warcraft, and I really liked it, and found it easy enough to understand. my biggest complaint is that some of the acting was really uneven, and there could have been some more character development, alot of them just felt kind of hollow. hopefully they can work on that for a sequel (that might actually happen!) but the world building and visuals (with the exception of one or two scenes) was outstanding. I love the magic and the way it was used in this movie, I really liked the mage kid, despite the actors jagid performance, just becuase his powers were so awesome, I should point out that Fantasy is by bread and butter and even an awful (which this is not imo) like Eragon I found moments of enjoyment in. The lore and geekery of it won me over in the end, even though it is a bit of a disappointment in the end. it's still way better than a lot of awful fantasy adaptations lately. B+