The story was literally Warcraft. I don’t know if you know this, but Warcraft’s story is pretty bland and pedestrian. Just fantasy tropes.
I enjoyed it for what it was, and I disagree that the CGI was bad. It looked pretty great. I have friends who worked on that movie, and I am very proud of them.
1 Like
I love the set work, costumes, props, etc., but it was a terrible movie and Duncan is a terrible director.
His casting choice for Garona alone is enough to make the entire film a joke. It’s as if he just randomly selected some cute little dainty built chick with delicate features, slapped some green paint on her and gave her pointy teeth and wahlah…! Badazz Female Orc! Right?! She may as well have been a Blood Elf.
If they went with warcraft 1 lore I think there would have been some better “WTF” moments in the film. Like Garnona killing the king as the only reason she got close to the humans was she was sent by Guldan to take down Stormwind from within. She was under Guldan’s magic at this time as well, so she wasn’t entirely willing. Gul’dan is a shadow puppeteer in this time period, and they did not make him out to be this in the movie at all. (It is why in Legion rouges go to get her daggers, the King slayers.)
Doomhammer making a powerplay for the Horde near the end of the film. In the lore he kills Blackhand and the shadow council in the dead of night when Guldan is in a deep slumber due to his link to Mediv’s death. Only Co’gal and about 7 or so warlocks survive as when Guldan wakes up when Doomhammer throws Blackhand’s head to his feet to show who is the new leader of the Horde.
And well like I said before the Horde burning Stormwind to the ground and causing the few survivors to head up to the north to warn Lorderan and form the Alliance of the coming Tides of Darkness.
Warcraft 1 and 2 have some very dark moments but they took the dark out for a bland film.
There are smaller things like not exiling the Frostwolf clan and doing a poor job to show that Sargars was behind Mediv’s corruption. (And I don’t even remember if they even aged up Kadgar lol)
With how much of the lore they didn’t get right how did they expect to make a tides of darkness movie. They didn’t set the right things up.
1 Like
In response to a couple things I have seen (and in case some one hasn’t said it)
Duncan Jones intended to make a trilogy (I think it was a trilogy) based on the rise of Thrall. I think it was a great idea, but I think a two-part film based on Arthas would have been better (I think there’s too much story for one film but not quite enough for three…could be wrong).
I initially seriously disliked the orc CGI but then my friend pointed out to me that I was comparing them to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings - which are completely different orcs, and the orcs in Warcraft were likely designed that way because that’s how they appear in the game. I changed my mind on that.
What I didn’t change my mind on, however, was the acting. I love Ruth Negga and Dominic Cooper, and what little else I have seen them in, they have been fantastic. I think Ben Foster and Ben Schnetzer absolutely NAILED their roles (and I maintain that if Khadgar had been aged they should have brought in Tony Amendola for him. He voices Khadgar in game and he would have been perfect).
But the movie didn’t focus on those actors, not really. It focused on Anduin Lothar and Garona and I’m sorry, but I’ve met mannequins with more chemistry and acting ability. Paula Patton needed another week to learn how to talk around those false teeth they had as part of her makeup, and to stop READING her lines and actually SAY them. She sounded as though she was reading a book the whole time and that was as much the director’s fault as hers.
Travis Fimmel did the opposite. He overacted everything he was in. He was trying to convey dark and brooding or great emotion, and he came off like an amateur at his first audition. He and Paula were both wooden and boring - and they were supposed to be the live-action stars (they’re actually top billed for the film). No, thank you.
(P.S. While I have a degree in theatre and film, I AM NOT an actress, which in my opinion is why I feel I can recognize poorer acting. 
I’m bad at it myself, and Travis was doing a lot of things I did when I had to get on stage for one reason or another).
Voice acting is another beast entirely and I have zero complaints about Daniel Wu, Toby Kebbell, Anna Galvin, or Robert Kazinsky. For the most part I understood them (the guttural orc speech sometimes slurred a word here or there), and I think that, for two CGI characters, Durotan and Draka had a surprisingly clear chemistry.
I think the story was what it was. Evil orc Horde (who were not evil, but rather misguided and corrupted, as we now know) invades planet and starts war with locals. I never got the impression they were going for intense, deep storytelling and I find myself wondering if the movie had been better if they had. The film comes off, in some ways, as a coming of age for Khadgar, but it doesn’t focus quite enough on him to pull it off (and it shouldn’t, but the fact that it gives off that impression probably isn’t a good thing). Dropping the romance would have been just fine with me - not that there’s no place for it, but that pairing definitely had no place in Warcraft. Hinting that Garona was Medivh’s daughter was a canon break I actually liked, though I’m perfectly fine with leaving her as the half-orc, half-draenei she’s supposed to be. (Girl needs to meet Lantresor…he’s half and half too, at least in Draenor timeline).
The music had its moments. Good theme for the Horde, fun opening credits, haunting theme for Medivh, but the rest of it fell short. I find, however, that that seems to be typical for the composer (Ramin Djawadi). I’ve only heard three of his scores and they seem to be the same - one or two good themes and the rest just…unmemorable.
Anyway. I got long winded, haha. I personally very very very much wish they would try again, particularly with Arthas or even Illidan (though I do shudder to think of how they could ruin my lord with CGI). But I don’t know. Blizzard is about to be swallowed up by Microsoft, and goodness knows what’s coming next.
1 Like
I liked the Warcraft movie very much. It was supposed to be about the Alliance point of view when Azeroth was invaded by the Horde with the help of the wizard Medivh. However, the Director Duncan Jones wanted to also show the plight of the Frostwolf Orcs and others who fled Outland to escape the Legion and warlock Gul’dan. The Director wanted to show why the Horde belongs in Azeroth. Also avoided making a Tolkien like movie which makes Warcraft original. All of the actors were excellent! Did you notice the actors who played the King and Queen of Stormwind are also in Preacher?
I knew Ruth was in Preacher, I did not know Dominic was in it. Ruth was in season 1 of Agents of Shield, and in Loving. If you want a laugh though, check out Dominic Cooper in Mamma Mia and just remind yourself you’re watching the King of Stormwind. 
1 Like
I thought it was entertaining, but not particularly outstanding overall. It was fun picking out the places i recognized from in-game.
The thing I specifically didn’t like though was the makeup for the elves. Even though they only appeared briefly, it felt to me like they put very little effort into their appearance.
It felt like someone thought “well these folks are only gonna have like a minute’s screen time so we’ll just slap something together” . It was disappointing.
I do also think they should have given Garona the same CGI treatment as Draka. A green painted human just didn’t seem to match up with the rest.
1 Like
Bad or not, I thought one of the more redeeming factors was hiring Ramin Djawadi for the original scoring. That guy can save anything.
^ Same here. I quite enjoyed the movie and have watched multiple times since. I think people expect to much therefore get disappointed quite a bit. I loved all the easter eggs in there. Loved how they threw in the murloc gurgle on that one scene. Seeing Dalaran on the big screen was awesome. Overall, for me it was a fun and great movie.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion so if you hated, sucks for you. People can’t make me change how I felt about the movie though
2 Likes
If this is true, I think starting with the Blackmoore internment camp would have been better. It is one of the earliest “Young Thrall” stories. You also get a look at the Frostwolf clan as well during it and I think some moments with Doomhammer.
1 Like
Thanks for sharing!
Decent movie at best not terrible or great just ok.
1 Like
The orcs did look awesome .
1 Like
I enjoyed it. I wasn’t expecting it to be the best movie ever made, so I wasn’t disappointed. It was decent and something you could follow without knowing the WoW universe, although that helped ofc.