A Crafted Mess

Warcraft
dir. Duncan Jones

  Movies and Video Games have had a long and turbulent history ever since Universal decided to make a ninety-minute long teaser for an NES game and a subsidiary of Disney made a steampunk hyperdrived summer blockbuster based on two plumbers and a mushroom kingdom. There have been some good, some decent, and some horrific and terrible films based on games. Nevertheless, I think the films of the past get somewhat of a pass as they were walking on new ground. No one had ever made cinema based on this kind of material. We are now in the year 2016, the technology is better and you would think with the leaps and bounds that have been accomplished with the blending of story and effects that "Warcraft" would be a massive and wonderfully made fantasy epic with great writing, characters and action.

It isn't.

Instead, we get a summer film that requires you to either have a gigantic encyclopedia of lore on hand or have played the popular MMORPG since it's launch in 2004. But even if you know everything about the mythos and lore of "Warcraft", this movie still feels like a disservice to its fans by not showcasing the vastness of the universe. We only see four locales throughout the entire thing. No other races or kingdoms are showcased. It just goes back and forth between humans and orcs. I would talk about the acting and performances but I cant remember any of the characters or their motives. The entire first act feels like a "Previously on...." flashback that practically (and somewhat literally) skips the origins and backstories of the leads in order to get to the plot faster. What does that leave us, the audience, with? The visuals are impressive and nice but take a film like James Cameron's "Avatar". It masterly blended brand new FX technology with a timeless story that any audience could relate to and understand. Sure, it was somewhat clichéd but at least, it took the time and pace to establish its plot and characters. I can tell you who was who. Every act of this movie feels like it is just meeting a mandatory check list.

Ruthless Villain and World Ending Device - Check
Stoic and No-Nonsense Hero - Check
Plucky, Still Learning The Ropes Sidekick - Check
And so on and so forth.

The whole vibe of the film seems as if the makers and studio were more concerned about the possibility of a future franchise than making a worthwhile and entertaining blockbuster. Is it a good adaptation of the game? Yes and No. The key parts are there but the whole thing moves so fast that you don't get to fully immerse or understand the "Warcraft" universe and by the end, you just don't care. It is a shame because this material deserved much better than this.

Rating: 1 Reel