I saw that Warcraft movie today. (A guy I know (who's a friend sort-of) works at the local Cineworld so he got the tickets for free - I didn't pay to see it and wasn't going to otherwise.)
I ain't never played no Warcraft (or any Blizzard game in general) but the film was okay. It just drops you into the fantasy world to sink or swim. There isn't really any character that we, the audience, follow to learn about the World of Warcraft. Everyone character has some knowledge of what's happening although no one knows everything. I couldn't keep the names straight, I just went by the faces ("That's Young Good Wizard, that's Old Good Wizard, that guy in the crown is The King. That guy who looks really evil is The Ork Wizard"). Actors were fine, nothing bad about their performances but nothing really exceptional. The Half-Ork Lady's story got a bit close to the 'Teach me about your Human-love' territory at points but I didn't see the twist coming at the end of her arc. (Note: For all I know, it might be a really common fantasy twist. I never read the genre.) I didn't get why she and the Head Knight were into each other, they didn't seem to have any chemistry I could perceive. (Note: I am not very good at seeing that in films anyway.)
Once I got to grips with who was who in a very basic sense (not too hard, for example the Old Good Wizard is called The Guardian) then I followed along just fine. I enjoyed most of it, it was definitely better than Hobbit 3. My mum liked that film but she's an old lady and not used to modern blockbuster spectacle film-making. (I saw all 3 Hobbits with her, actually, she was a fan of the books and films and enjoyed all the Jackson movies. I thought Hobbit 3 was pretty dull in a lot of ways but I wouldn't tell her that.) She probably wouldn't like this because she wouldn't know what the fuck is going on from the start. She finds current Doctor Who and Sherlock confusing enough but she likes those regardless. Baseline knowledge probably helps. Maybe Warcraft would be derivative enough to work though? I wouldn't say I 'turned my brain off' but I did have to let stuff like proper nouns just wash over me and just roll with what was going on.
What impressed me was how far Prequel-era George Lucas-style film-making has come. That is, how far using about 5 human actors, some mo-cap and V.O., and like a billion computers has come. The orks, magic, and other fantasy elements looked seamless with the humans and the film has none of those wierd ass fake looking environmental lighting problems the prequels have.
To be honest, the best part of the movie was how the orks were handled as a group. At first I thought they were going to be a typical mindless horde with a demagogue, imperialist ruler but they're actually a group with internal politics, customs, and norms. This is probably one of the few times I've been watching a blockbuster and I've felt that it's a shame that the humans and their invaders couldn't just talk it out. If anything, the human faction was written more flatly but not in some dumb
'IT TURNS OUT IT'S MAN' way. The humans were good, dutiful, were willing to talk to the orks, and had a clear motivation of wanting to defend themselves. They had little internal conflict, except for when the Head Knight disagreed with the King over military tactics and suddenly didn't trust the Old Good Wizard for no reason (
even though he's totally right). It was nice to see that all the sides in the conflict had some motivation beyond 'We're the Good Army' and 'We're the Evil Army'.
I did smirk at couple of the lighter moments and character interactions. The hero characters were likeable. There's a lot of stuff about parenthood, specifically fatherhood, running through the film (
as Mark Kermode pointed out). I guess that's meant to be the emotional anchor, and it half works at times, but I guess I'm not that bothered about ork families, as I'm a horrible racist, or the linage of the Head Knight, as I'm way too young to be a father. The very last scene (especially the last shot) is the worst kind of 'tune in for the sequel' crap, it's cringe-worthy, but the main plot of the film feels resolved so I wasn't too caught up on that. Action scenes are well-directed, the quieter scenes are well-directed too.
The film would probably be better if it did a better job establishing what the fuck is going on from the start (it's not very complex) and having one main character that we (or I) could really get emotionally invested in but it does actually do a lot of things really well. It definitely does not deserve the 27% slamming Rotten Tomatoes score it has. I think a 50% score would be fairer. Reviewing films with a percentage is bull anyway. You'll like it if you can get on board with its schlocky unapologetic fantasy-ness and don't get confused watching a movie where you can't remember anyone's name where characters just name other Important Things and Stuff at the drop of a hat.
I'd recommend it if you can also see it for free, or if it's on TV, or if the DVD or Blu-Ray is on sale. It's A-OK.