Warcraft - Movie Review

I am an avid watcher of Ben Yahtzee Croshaw's online web series "Zero Punctuation" where he reviews a variety of different video games. I can't remember specifically which episode it was but in it he says something along the line of "How can a varied, complex opinion be summarized into a simple number?" Now, with the task of organizing my thoughts and feelings in order to form them into coherent points I reflect on his words. While yes, a small part of me thinks it would be a lot simpler if I could just say "6 / 10 it was worth your money." I mean I can and I did, but for the sake of exercising my writing skills I'll explore why in the following :

For many years I've been an devout player of the (World of) Warcraft games. Growing up as I did (by that I mean not having many friends until the later part of high school) I turned to the ever growing online universe for companionship. I started playing Warcraft III and its many online counterparts around the age of eleven or twelve (whenever I would've been in grade six). One of my few real-world friends at the time played Warcraft and soon got me involved in his games.  My brother, being roughly four years my senior had already played and left Warcraft behind so I soon ... borrowed his game and left to meet my friend in cyberspace. Several years later, having more or less graduated from the Real-Time strategy that was Warcraft III I soon picked up a new addiction to World of Warcraft. My brother had again played and abandoned W.O.W so I picked up a seven day trial and was hooked from the first second. So if this first paragraph tells you anything its that I have a bit of nostalgia for Warcraft and its counterparts, nostalgia that the movie plays into very effectively.

With all of that said critiquing it based of how accurately they depicted the tusks on Guldan's back or that the Alliance crest is supposed to be Azure instead of Cobalt is a waste of my time. With a movie like this made entirely because the video game was/is so popular, attention to detail will always upset some hardcore fans but in my opinion from a cinematic point of view it was fairly well done.  Yes, there were a few corny lines and yes some of the relationships between characters at times seem forced but in all it was an enjoyable experience. If you go into the theatre expecting Citizen Cane of course you're going to be disappointed. Warcraft is an action movie for nerds.  There's a ton of fantasy and a bit of goofiness but there has to be with a movie like this.  This is a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously.  True, the overall narrative of the story could have been executed a bit smoother but to me that shows more of a fault in the script writing / directing than it does with the acting. At the end of the day if the script is only passable then blaming the actors I think is a bit unfair.

Several of the reviews I've read (to see what others have to say) have been disappointed and frankly appalled at what a waste it was. I do tentatively agree that at some points the movie was relying heavily on "telling not showing" form of story telling. Having actors spew exposition shows laziness on the part of the screen writer rather than on that of the actors. They were just doing best with what they had.

One of my biggest complaints though is with how Garona Halforcen (Paula Patton) was portrayed. Nothing, it seems, can escape Hollywood’s' sexism, so although her character first gets introduced as a fierce outcast she soon subjugates to her captors culminating in a rather cringe-worthy attempted make out. For me the casting of Medivh (Ben Foster) was an interesting choice visually.  I'm not particularly thrilled by it if I'm being honest.  To me he seemed more like a friend who's overstayed his welcome and just needs to get a job and stop sleeping on your couch rather than an all powerful mage.  I think, in essence, he lacked an epic mage-like presence.  Not really a powerful controller of the fire elements and more the pizza delivery guy that they asked to work overtime. However, looking at his IMDB he did play Angel in the original X-Men movies and so I take points off simply because he was one of my first celebrity crushes.

The more I get thinking about the movie the more I can't decide if I'm letting the reviews I've read cloud my thoughts; because I left the theatre more or less satisfied with what I saw. Sure it was kind of corny and sure the writing could've been a bit better but at the end of the day I should judge it on whether it was entertaining. Which it was. If anything blizzard succeeded because  I'm going to go renew my World of Warcraft membership after this. I'd say you should go see this just for the visual effects and the costuming.  Both were detailed and dramatic. But if you're after a strong story and in-depth performance than I'd say go home and re-watch The Martian.  So yes after writing all this and thinking about it some more I'd still give Warcraft a solid 6-6.5 / 10.

Leave me your thoughts in the comment section or tweet them at me, I'm dying to know what other people thought.  Also if you play Warcraft and want to find me on cyberspace my user is UndeadDuke G-