1. Spoilers. There are them here Not will. At least, directly related to the plot of the film, but every now and then facts relating to the universe will emerge here and there WarCraft in general, and the first war of orcs and people in particular, as well as information from trailers. So, if you have not yet seen the film and want to keep your perception pristine for the most complete viewing experience, I recommend refraining from reading this article.
2. Gate Guard Opinion Factor. I’m a big fan of games Blizzard and series WarCraft, therefore, it is very difficult for me to evaluate the film adaptation objectively, without fan-colored rose-colored glasses, but I will try. When reading, most importantly, remember that this article is subjective. Your opinion may differ from mine, this is normal, and even good.
May the eternal sun illuminate your path!
Preface
Warcraft… How much has merged in this sound for the heart of a gamer! How much echoed in him! Truly, this is the brainchild of the company Blizzard has become much more than a successful long-running series of games. Warcraft is a whole era in gaming, I would even say, a cultural phenomenon. And first of all, Warcraft is a well-developed, colorful fantasy world that is striking in its size, full of interesting stories and memorable characters, which has been reflected more than once or twice in literature, comics, art, machinima, and, of course, in games, but never wanted to appear on the big screen. However, it was clear to everyone that the solemn appearance of the Military Craft in the vastness of the film industry remained only a matter of time… Until recently.
And so it happened! 10 long years after the first announcement of the film adaptation, to the delight of fans, the Warcraft universe still receives its well-deserved film embodiment through the efforts of Legendary Pictures and immediately sets off to conquer the spaces of cinemas around the world. But before it even had time to be released, the film received a bunch of extremely low ratings from various critics, which is why its average score is Metacritic at the time of writing this article is a sad 37%. A similar situation has developed in the domestic KinoPoisk, where, according to critics’ reviews, the film received a disgraceful 21%.
A whole series of uncomfortable questions immediately arise: Why did critics march through the film like a battle march of the Horde?? Is it really that bad there?? So what did we get in the end?? This is the same Warcraft that migrated to the big screen, or something on the level of Uwe Boll’s crafts, or maybe even worse? What have we been waiting for 10 years? Let’s figure it out. And to better understand how Duncan Jones disposed of the colossal Warcraft heritage, I will divide my story into thematic blocks to make it easier to navigate.
And I’ll start with perhaps the most controversial aspect of the film – the plot. And it is ambiguous for a number of reasons. Firstly, there is a significant deviation from the general canons of the series, namely from the plots of the game WarCraft: Orcs and Humans and related literature. Secondly, a very, very chaotic narrative, making the already not very strong plot even more chaotic.
The film does not spare the unprepared viewer, the action starts right off the bat, there is no backstory or debriefing, they simply dump on us more and more of everything: orcs, Gul’dan, the Dark Portal, invasion, people, action. At first, this discouraged even me, a person who knows the background of the conflict and the chronology of events. Those who do not understand the history of the world of Military Craft at all risk not understanding the essence of the events taking place at all.
But further – more. The action develops quite rapidly, gaining quite a bit of momentum. We are dumped on a mountain of various characters on both sides of the conflict, some of whom appear only to then disappear; battle scenes abruptly give way to dialogues; someone is always in a hurry somewhere; we constantly switch between the Horde and the forces of Stormwind, without really having time to really get into either one or the other. The editing is extremely choppy, it’s difficult to concentrate on what is happening: war-dialogues, dialogues-war. Because of this, the degree of misunderstanding of what is happening can grow to indecent levels.
While watching, you get the strong feeling that the filmmakers tried to show as much as possible in as little time as possible in order to fit into the running time. Therefore, little, criminally little time is given to reveal the characters, it happens as if by chance, casually, as a result of which the motivation of many characters is either justified in just one short scene, which is why all further action looks a little strange, or remains behind the scenes or on the pages of books. This may make it unclear to an ignorant person why a certain character acts in one way or another.
But from the middle to the very end, the pace slows down somewhat, the editing stops being so crazy; albeit in passing, the necessary explanations and answers to some questions that might arise at the beginning of viewing are given. As for me, the second half of the film is much stronger than the first, both in terms of story presentation and character development, and in terms of action scenes.
If we talk directly about https://vegas2webcasino.co.uk/login/ the plot of the picture, then… it’s still not bad. Yes, there are not enough stars in the sky, sometimes there are small inconsistencies and it can be difficult to follow its development, but it is still interesting and original. The film does not let you get bored, something is happening all the time, you don’t even really have time to catch your breath.
Next I would like to raise another controversial issue – the question of canon. Of course, this aspect is not paramount for most viewers, but it is certainly important for fans of the universe. The film was created under the careful supervision of ENT sorcerers from Blizzard, and all changes to the original history of the world for the sake of adapting the vast Warcraft universe for film format were approved by the great and terrible Chris Metzen. However, there will always be 3.5 orthodox experts in red who will complain about the distortion of history, they say, Gul’dan’s beard was 3 cm longer, Grommash was greener and angrier, Garona’s breasts were half a size larger and her hair was styled the other way, non-canon and in general! Therefore, I will still make the necessary clarifications.
The plot of the film follows superficially WarСraft: Orcs and Humans, all the main events and people are in place, however, there are a number of pianos in the bushes, which, of course, I won’t go into too much detail about. Let me just say that the original plot solutions of the film can be divided into three groups:. The first ones are those that I, as an ardent fan of the series, are quite happy with and like even more than the original plot; the second are those that do not evoke any emotions: well, they changed and changed, just think; Well, and the third ones are those that provoke only a facepalm and an incredible desire to ask the writers a question: “Why couldn’t it be done the way it was in the original, eh??!”. The latter, fortunately, are few.
And in order not to be unfounded, I will give a specific example for each group (don’t be afraid of spoilers, all situations are taken from trailers and TV spots). An excellent example of changes from the first group is the replacement of the reason for the obsession and bloodthirstiness of the orcs – from the blood of the demon Mannoroth they decided to switch to a certain Fel, which Gul’dan endows his subjects with at his own discretion, which explains the one-time presence of green and brown orcs on the screen, as well as the change in the color of their skin as the plot progresses (hello, Blackhand!), and also avoids many questions in the future.
As an illustration of the changes in the second group, the introduction of an act of collaboration between part of the orcs led by Durotan and Orgrimm Doomhammer with Stormwind in order to overthrow the dictatorship of Gul’dan. In the original, of course, there was nothing like this at all, everything is much simpler there: the orcs are completely evil, so much so that even all the cookies allocated according to the coupons of the forces of Evil for the recruitment of recruits were stolen by themselves, and the people are all kind, white and fluffy, you only have time to clean the lint from your armor. This twist adds some depth to the plot and deprives the conflict of primitive “black and white”. In principle, I am not against such changes, since they make the plot more twisted, which has a positive effect on the perception of the picture by both ordinary inexperienced people and hardened fans who know this whole story by heart. However, such transformations do not cause me much enthusiasm.
And to demonstrate the negative changes of the third group, one very revealing scene arises, connected with Garona Half-orch, simply mind-blowing with its absurdity, but I cannot use it, because spoilers (although in this case they refer to the game 20 years ago, well, oh well), so I will give another example – the final battle between the leader Blackhand and Anduin Lothar, as a result of which the first dies. It is worth saying that in the original story, Blackhand dies shortly before the end of the First War at the hands of Orgrim Doomhammer, as a result of which he becomes the rightful leader of the Horde. Everything is logical and clear. In the film adaptation, for the sake of pathos or additional action, I don’t know, they decided to destroy the harmonious history of Orgrimm’s coming to power in the Horde, and now I absolutely do not understand how this insidious orc will take this very power into his brown hands in the sequel. Well, yes, and C’Tun with him, if the fight were memorable and epic, but no! The whole action lasted about five seconds, Blackhand, apparently stupefied by the Fel and his own power, hit Lothar with a ram in the traditional orc style, and he, don’t be a fool, made a deft roll, like a seasoned warfacer, right between the leader’s legs, in the process, with a deft movement of his hand, he cut off his strength and honor with his sword, which is why he instantly became sad and did not continue the fight, than Lothar and took advantage. Of course, the fight looked comical… probably, but, Sargeras take it, it wasn’t worth it. However, this is just a fly in the ointment and overall everything is fine in Chris Metzen’s domain, What can’t be said about ENT Draenor, hmm.
Now let’s consider something more unambiguous and understandable. What can I say, the picture in the film is simply magnificent, and this applies to all its aspects: from CGI to scenery and props. Computer orcs look fantastic: incredible depth of detail on models, facial and other animations, detailing of hair and other stubble is simply amazing. Indeed, local green- and brown-skinned people can be closely examined for the presence of all sorts of details and features for a very, very long time. The computer animals did not disappoint either, however, they are somewhat behind the orcs.
But the views are not far behind. Local computer beauties fascinate with their pathos and silent fantasy grandeur. Everything is drawn intelligently, with feeling, the artists were clearly inspired by the views from the cinematics of the original Warcraft. The backdrops, as is usual in some modern films, are not blurred here, the panoramas are mesmerizing. You can spend a lot of time viewing the local landscapes.
Now, perhaps, it should be said about the controversial part of all this splendor, which raised the most questions – about the props, which are represented by the weapons and armor of the valiant warriors of Stormwind. Their armor especially raised a lot of doubts, because in the trailers they looked extremely artificial and plastic. I was afraid that the army of people would resemble some kind of gathering of Omsk role players in 1995. I’m so glad that my fears were not confirmed. Through the efforts of some unknown forces (movie magic, no less), the armor of the infantry of the human race was transformed and began to look appropriate. The weapon didn’t fall flat either, however, in my opinion, it still smacks of a certain “toy” quality. It’s too big and hypertrophied.
It’s also worth mentioning about magic. Not a movie, but an ordinary one. There’s not too much of it here, and the effects aren’t very diverse, but it looks very, very colorful, on par, although by the end of the film the repetitive effects begin to tire.
Everything is quite simple here too. The cast was chosen, in my opinion, quite tolerably, although without the names of the first magnitude. No one was annoying throughout the film, and thank you for that.
But still, I would like to specifically mention Radgar Lothbrak, oh, that is, Travis Fimmel, who played Anduin Lothar. I really liked his performance; in my opinion, he perfectly complemented and enlivened the image of the staunch Nordic commander of the troops of Stormwind and the hero of the future Alliance.
And if we look at the other side of the barricades, I can’t help but highlight Daniel Wu, who played the role of Gul’dan, the main villain of the film. The movie Gul’dan turned out to be a very powerful and memorable character, causing awe and even some fear, although, in comparison with the game Gul’dan, his image was somewhat degraded.
Battle music sounds, and the orcs set off on a campaign… Hmm, the musical component is perhaps the most disappointing in this film. And no, the music isn’t exactly off topic. The thing is that the music… just isn’t there. It doesn’t irritate, doesn’t make you want to rip your ears off, drill a hole into your brain with a screwdriver, or anything like that. She doesn’t cause anything at all. No emotions, she’s not even really remembered. But in fantasy films the musical component is extremely important, but here such a crap performance. It’s a shame. And this is not Warcraft level, which is doubly offensive. The games in the series were famous for their magnificent music, which fully reflects the epic nature and scale of this fairy-tale world. There is nothing like this in the film adaptation. The composer didn’t even bother to use recycled compositions from the game, because in one scene where a panorama of Stormwind was shown, one melody suggested itself, but alas. We would combine business with pleasure – fan service and soundtrack… However, these are fan quibbles, in general, the music is normal, but I would, of course, like more.
And now we have reached the radiant realm of fan service, which I briefly mentioned above. In general, I was very afraid that the film, heart-rendingly trying to confirm its direct involvement in the great series of games, would vigorously shove various fan service under my nose, as if saying: “Well, what, fan, you wanted it – get it, we’ll shovel it for you, and you eat it.”. Or that he will go to the other extreme, and in principle there will be no tricks for fans of the series, so as not to overload an unprepared viewer. It’s good that my fears were not confirmed this time either.
The Warcraft movie is an example of a very high-quality distribution of the fan service component. There’s not much of it here, but it’s cleverly distributed in terms of timing, they don’t shove it in your face, but every now and then throughout the narrative various funny things pop up, and you understand that this is fucking Warcraft and nothing else. A separate entertainment is finding familiar faces in a crowd of orcs (Grommash is the best extra in the film, however, he is, so to speak, “on the surface”, I also managed to find Sharphand, and who did you find?). The presentation of fan service in this film is an example for other film adaptations. This is how you need to work with material and present it to fans.
In general, the Warcraft movie is a good, really good live-action movie, but, of course, not without problems. Discordant, ragged narration, oversaturation of characters, strange script and ENT decisions, weak musical component – it’s all there, it’s stupid to deny these problems, but nothing is perfect.
Yes, even if, in my opinion, the film takes on too much: trying to show an extremely large-scale and long story, coupled with the development and formation of a whole galaxy of different characters in such a small running time by today’s standards (2 hours exactly), it risks leaving unsatisfied both sophisticated fans who want to see even more characters and events, and ordinary viewers who will most likely have questions due to a number of plot omissions. In my opinion, the film could have safely kept those cut out half an hour in the running time, then many problems could have been avoided.
But, overall, the film leaves an extremely pleasant impression. In my humble opinion, Duncan Jones coped with his task. He treated the Warcraft legacy with extreme dignity, and in an attempt to find a compromise between the demands of two polar categories of viewers – demanding fans and ordinary people who just wanted to watch a movie – he did everything possible so that no one left offended.
Cinematic Warcraft corresponds to its gaming ancestor: it is very colorful, rich and has a colossal scope, typical of epic fantasy. It’s very interesting to watch the development of the film’s plot; it watches in one breath, not letting go until the credits.
This film is the case when the first pancake didn’t turn out lumpy. This is just the first sign, and I really hope that the film will not only mark the beginning of an entire film epic based on the universe of Military Craft, but also give rise to the era of truly high-quality film adaptations of games, inspiring directors with its example.
For me, as a devoted fan of this gaming universe, who has lost dozens of hours playing strategies WarCraft and hundreds of well-known MMORPGs, it is difficult to objectively evaluate this creation of cinema, but I must. And no matter how much I would like to shout in a fanatical frenzy: “Oh my god, this is a masterpiece, at your fingertips, 11 Illidans riding Deathwing from 10 Arthas-murloc-pirate-ninjas from outer space. 111adyn11”, – I have to judge sensibly. Warcraft is not at all brilliant and has its laurels Lord of the Rings it doesn’t pretend to be, but the film is extremely high quality and made with love for the source material. For me personally, this is the best film adaptation of the game at the moment; it’s definitely worth going to the cinema, especially if you’re a fan of the series. My verdict:
Pros: beautiful picture, interesting plot, excellent work of the actors, high-quality fan service.
Cons: chaotic narration, weak music, questionable changes to the canon, the absence of several important characters from the games.
Plot: 7/10
Picture: 9/10
Music: 5/10
Actors: 7/10