Warcraft (2016)

User Review

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  TheMovieDiorama

  6 / 10

  Warcraft is the film adaptation of the popular fantasy video game. Yes, it was only a matter of time before the world's best selling MMORPG got a film adaptation. To be fair, this is actually pretty good! There is a lot to admire here. The world building and mythos of Azeroth is dense, like to a point where I'm being entertained yet informed of a fictional realm simultaneously. The visuals were stunning, this is high quality work including the motion capture acting for the orcs. The battle sequences were thrilling and the blend of real actors to digital creatures felt seamless. I liked some of the dynamics between each race, there were conflicts and relationships both in the human race and the orcs. Duncan Jones did a great job directing this, some nice long shots during battle sequences which could've easily been turned into jump cuts, so I commend him for not doing that. I appreciate that they tried to tone down the exposition and lore (trust me, it's heavy going), considering I've never played the source material. Having watched it twice, I now understand the plot. Whilst this works most of the time, it does fail occasionally especially at the beginning and that is due to the script. It is ridiculously plagued with names, places, incantations, mythology...it felt too overwhelming. Some scenes weren't explained and did leave me with some questions. The acting on the whole was bland (apart from the motion capture), the cast isn't particularly A-List but there are some notable actors who didn't really perform well. Characters did not have much emotional depth so becoming invested in them was difficult, although some scenes explored some emotion so I applaud the effort. The ending for me, was not really satisfying and was obviously left open for a sequel. To be honest...I would like to see a sequel. This is easily one of the strongest video game adaptations and would happily visit the world of Azeroth in a sequel, not so much the characters though. But make it happen studios, make it happen!

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