Not sure whether this properly goes in the Media forum or the Games forum, but the people I wanted to talk about it with are more reliably over here so....
I've been reading reviews for the past two weeks with grim determination, knowing that no matter how awful they were, I still *had* to see the movie. WarCraft was my first fandom. Connecting with people online, anticipating WarCraft III together was one of my formative experiences. I obsessed over the lore for the longest time, savoring every scrap of it, until eventually (in WoW) the amount of information I'd have to consume became too great.
I haven't actually played WoW in a while, but to honor my 12-year-old self I had to see this through.
Non-Spoiler-Review:
I enjoyed it. The reviews are basically all accurate - some of the acting isn't that great, and some is actively bad. They try to convey basically everything that happens chronologically in WarCraft I, and the movie buckles a bit under the strain.
But it opens and ends pretty strongly, and apart from a some where slow second-act beginning, I enjoyed it throughout. It's at least as good as string of cutscenes. Most importantly, they were clearly, earnestly trying to tell the WarCraft story, not dumb it down for the masses. They simplified some things to make it work as a movie but it hangs together well. It could have been a genuinely great movie if they had better actors, but as the B movie action-flick that it is, it's still enjoyable.
If you find yourself wanting to see the movie but worried that it's so awful that you shouldn't... I would go see it. (I wouldn't especially recommend dragging along people who aren't into WarCraft)
Now, in-depth spoilers (there are actual spoilers here - even if you know the plot, I recommend seeing the movie before reading. Seeing how they interpreted a few things was worth going in blind for.
I've been reading reviews for the past two weeks with grim determination, knowing that no matter how awful they were, I still *had* to see the movie. WarCraft was my first fandom. Connecting with people online, anticipating WarCraft III together was one of my formative experiences. I obsessed over the lore for the longest time, savoring every scrap of it, until eventually (in WoW) the amount of information I'd have to consume became too great.
I haven't actually played WoW in a while, but to honor my 12-year-old self I had to see this through.
Non-Spoiler-Review:
I enjoyed it. The reviews are basically all accurate - some of the acting isn't that great, and some is actively bad. They try to convey basically everything that happens chronologically in WarCraft I, and the movie buckles a bit under the strain.
But it opens and ends pretty strongly, and apart from a some where slow second-act beginning, I enjoyed it throughout. It's at least as good as string of cutscenes. Most importantly, they were clearly, earnestly trying to tell the WarCraft story, not dumb it down for the masses. They simplified some things to make it work as a movie but it hangs together well. It could have been a genuinely great movie if they had better actors, but as the B movie action-flick that it is, it's still enjoyable.
If you find yourself wanting to see the movie but worried that it's so awful that you shouldn't... I would go see it. (I wouldn't especially recommend dragging along people who aren't into WarCraft)
Now, in-depth spoilers (there are actual spoilers here - even if you know the plot, I recommend seeing the movie before reading. Seeing how they interpreted a few things was worth going in blind for.
Two things they changed, which I liked a lot:
1) Having Thrall be stillborn, and being brought back to life by Gul'Dan.
This was a good explanation for something that had kind of bugged me - how does Thrall end up green when he's raised independently with no Fel Magic? More importantly, I think it adds a some nice, subtle depth to both Thrall and Gul'Dan. Doesn't make Gul'Dan any less evil - but shows a bit of his shaman heritage, doing a bit of midwifery and that his powers *can* be used to do nice things on occasion.
2) And, at the end, having Llane tell Garona to kill him
I'm not sure what the latest canon-reason for this was, but ever since I read The Last Guardian (my favorite WarCraft novel), it hasn't made any sense to me for Garona to betray Llane. She's a good enough and strong enough person to never do it willingly. The reason given in this movie made sense, AND it doesn't even violate the hazy, confusing canon - the canon is hazy and confusing BECAUSE Lothar misinterprets what's happening and that's the only story they have to tell.
The Medivh Subplot
This was something that bothered me, but I'm genuinely unsure (from an artistic perspective) how they could have improved it. Medivh isn't well explained in the movie. There isn't enough background or foreshadowing for the "he's a demon!" revelation to make any sense. And yet... I don't know how I would have fit more into the movie.
They could have chosen to tell "The Last Guardian" story (i.e. Khadgar, Garona and Lothar unravelling the mystery of Medivh together). I think that could be done in roughly 2 hours - but it wouldn't leave any room for Durotan or any of the other orcs. The orcs were the best part of this movie, and I think it was crucial to have them be major characters.
The "Khadgar goes to visit the Kirin Tor" scene was pretty pointless - it didn't explain anything ("Light from darkness light what the fuck are you talking about?"). They could have revealed actual information there about Aegwynn or Sargeras, but the problem wasn't just that we didn't have the information - it was that the characters didn't have the screentime to really *earn* the information. (In "Last Guardian", Khadgar does a series of magical experiments that eventually allow him to see controlled visions from the past)
A Missed Opportunity
In that scene where Lothar is bothering the guard set to watch him, I was really hoping for the guard to "What!? Are you still touching me!" or otherwise highlighting the "click on a unit too many times" gag. (I think the optimal joke here would have been to have him start to say "Are you still..." and then abruptly turn into a sheep).
1) Having Thrall be stillborn, and being brought back to life by Gul'Dan.
This was a good explanation for something that had kind of bugged me - how does Thrall end up green when he's raised independently with no Fel Magic? More importantly, I think it adds a some nice, subtle depth to both Thrall and Gul'Dan. Doesn't make Gul'Dan any less evil - but shows a bit of his shaman heritage, doing a bit of midwifery and that his powers *can* be used to do nice things on occasion.
2) And, at the end, having Llane tell Garona to kill him
I'm not sure what the latest canon-reason for this was, but ever since I read The Last Guardian (my favorite WarCraft novel), it hasn't made any sense to me for Garona to betray Llane. She's a good enough and strong enough person to never do it willingly. The reason given in this movie made sense, AND it doesn't even violate the hazy, confusing canon - the canon is hazy and confusing BECAUSE Lothar misinterprets what's happening and that's the only story they have to tell.
The Medivh Subplot
This was something that bothered me, but I'm genuinely unsure (from an artistic perspective) how they could have improved it. Medivh isn't well explained in the movie. There isn't enough background or foreshadowing for the "he's a demon!" revelation to make any sense. And yet... I don't know how I would have fit more into the movie.
They could have chosen to tell "The Last Guardian" story (i.e. Khadgar, Garona and Lothar unravelling the mystery of Medivh together). I think that could be done in roughly 2 hours - but it wouldn't leave any room for Durotan or any of the other orcs. The orcs were the best part of this movie, and I think it was crucial to have them be major characters.
The "Khadgar goes to visit the Kirin Tor" scene was pretty pointless - it didn't explain anything ("Light from darkness light what the fuck are you talking about?"). They could have revealed actual information there about Aegwynn or Sargeras, but the problem wasn't just that we didn't have the information - it was that the characters didn't have the screentime to really *earn* the information. (In "Last Guardian", Khadgar does a series of magical experiments that eventually allow him to see controlled visions from the past)
A Missed Opportunity
In that scene where Lothar is bothering the guard set to watch him, I was really hoping for the guard to "What!? Are you still touching me!" or otherwise highlighting the "click on a unit too many times" gag. (I think the optimal joke here would have been to have him start to say "Are you still..." and then abruptly turn into a sheep).
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