Warcraft (2016)
Rent Warcraft on Amazon Video
Written by: Charles Leavitt and Duncan Jones (screenplay)
Directed by: Duncan Jones
Starring: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Toby Kebbell, Clancy Brown, Ruth Negga, Ben Schnetzer
Rated: PG-13
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!
Plot:
Humans and sympathetic orcs must stop an invading orc horde.
Verdict:
I think fans of the Warcraft games
and novels will like this movie, but if you aren't familiar with the
franchise, you're going to be lost. This movie expects you to have an
extensive knowledge of the properties.
The pacing is quick and
while I know what's going on, it's not always clear why leading me to
wonder what's going on. The production design and CGI is great, but
this should have been multiple movies or a simpler story. It just
doesn't work.
Skip it.
Review:
There
must be a lot cut out of this movie, because that's what it feels like.
With the very first scene jumps in so fast I feel like a missed the
first couple of scenes. Any foundation and backstory was cut to pack the
plot into two hours. How many movies was this originally intended to
be?
This movie rarely slows down, and even when it does
it's incredibly brief. It's a strange scenario where I feel like I
don't know what's going on even though I can easily explain what has
occurred in the plot. The disconnect is that I can explain the what just
not the why. The Orcs invaded a human world sure, but I don't know
why. Well, I do but it's too simple of an explanation. There world is
dying, but I've never seen that. Nothing visible in this film reinforces
the need.
Ben Foster got possessed but I don't know
how. There is very little foundation to this, I guess Duncan Jones
expected only diehard fans of World of Warcraft would watch this. As someone unfamiliar with the inspiring property. I felt like I was missing a lot.
This is based on the novels World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde and World of Warcraft: The Last Guardian, which are based on the Blizzard's video game franchise Warcraft.
It's
a little too faithful, if I had to guess. Purists will love that
aspect, but this movie packs too much into the two hours without proper
explanations. There are Orcs, magic, warriors, kids fathers, double
dealing mages,
Black Hand, and kings. There are so many characters that none of them
feel that important. The movie tells me things are important, but that's
the only way I would know which makes many of the big moments
overwrought.
The CGI and production design is great,
but it can't overcome the plot. Ben Schnetzer portrayal of Khadgar was a
little rough. He has the young mage part down, just not the believable
part. He always felt like an actor, not the character.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
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