[Movie] Warcraft (June 2016)

[Deleted]

Alright, we're back. Saw the movie, enjoyed a fair bit and here are some thoughts-

Preface: I am not a World of Warcraft/Warcraft RTS fan or am knowledgeable about the lore beyond the most basic of premises. I have no outstanding love or hate for this franchise; it just doesn't catch my fancy.

Here goes...

Likes

- The magic/spellcasting antics were really cool. I was pleasantly surprised by the visual presentation and narrative use of magic magic. Like even calling them mages, polymorphing a guard, arcane blast and the souldrain Warlock skill. Neat!

- Delightfully violent! This took me back the most and I loved it! I enjoyed that people actually died in the film, that the Orcs were brutal as fuck, heads were unambiguously smashed! Delightful.

- The whole story with the Orc leader and his best friend/bro. I thought that was really (unironically) humane and understandable. The scene where the bald Orc from Legions of Pandaria throws the pebble at the Orc Leader with the braids. My favorite scene in the whole film. Wonderful!

- Holy shit, Ironforge looked just like Ironforge. Amazing!

Dislikes

- 99% of the dialogue. Oh goodness, some of the worst dialogue in recent memory. I saw Gods of Egypt and Clash of the Titans 2, mind you.

- Most of the actor casting. The casting director should lose their job. This was terrible. Especially with their biggest competitor being renown for some of the most virtuoso casting in the industry. You just can't be lazy or mediocre on this anymore- especially for franchise pictures.

- Whomever is the lady that played Gamora and the ex-mage that kills Illidan. Terrible acting from both- on top of their poor casting. Groan-inducing, literally, the audience groaned audibly at their scenes several times.

Huh?/Oh I get it!

- I am sorta unsure what this movie was about really. Huh?

- There are two different types of Orcs? Huh?

- Ah! So that's why Karavan looked like that in the MMO. I get it!

- Oh! That's the Heartstone book. I get it!

- In World of Warcraft, everyone in the Allience is super causal around the King? Like super cas. Huh?

- How cool... that's the login music to the game. I get it!

How on earth do you have almost 23 000 posts on a World of Warcraft fansite without caring about the franchise? It's madness O.o

I disagree with your dislikes... I am well aware the dialogue wasn't the pinnacle of drama, but it wasn't nearly as bad as you make it out to be... Especially not on the orc side of the story. Their dialogue was concise, but not without emotion (Draka/Durotan/Orgrim scenes). The human side was of less quality, Lothar seemed to not really care about anything that was going on. Garona's talking, especially at the beginning, was a bit weird (I know why, she couldn't speak the language very well, but it was still odd and somewhat cringe-worthy to hear).
The actors weren't amazing, but what did you expect from a film where most of the budget has probably gone to creating good CGI? Garona certainly wasn't my favourite character, but I expected her to be a lot worse (same goes for the romance between her and Lothar). I rather liked Khadgar, I think the actor portrayed being a nerdy, clumsy, seventeen-year-old mage rather well. And he does become slightly less of a twat as the film progresses. I am also not sure why you call him an ex-mage, as he casts spells throughout the story. Leaving the Kirin Tor doesn't strip you of your powers...
Lothar's head cocking does get slightly annoying though
And I too can present audience reactions: it was an almost completely full theatre (very unexpected) and I heard nobody groan or snigger outloud. In fact, there were several instances of laughing at jokes throughout the viewing.

I have no idea what you mean by your weird ''huh/oh I get it'' section... are you talking about yourself? The people you were with? Reactions of people on the internet? Are you reacting to your own statements or those of others?
I will just assume the worst and that being you are reacting to yourself...

-How on earth can you not know what the film is about? The various orcs in the narrative state multiple times that their ''world is dying'' or variations on this phrase and that's the reason they're invading Azeroth. The humans want to fight this because the orcs are murdering people and destroying everything. Green magic kills and corrupts and is bad.
The friend I was with (who knows nothing about Warcraft apart from the very basics (he thought Medivh was Illidan)) managed to get the whole story, but he was curious about who Medivh transformed into.
-Green orcs use fel magic. Brown orcs do not. Stated multiple times in the film. They even have Durotan spell it out for you when Medivh reks the orcs that are green: ''it only affects the green orcs... :O''.
-I have no idea what you mean by ''everyone in the Allience is casual around the king''... Like, do you not understand why the king and the ones close to him don't act very formally? If so... it's because Lothar, the king and Medivh are friends... they even call each other ''old friend'' and the like. Do you always act profesionally when not out in public and are just hanging around with your friends? And it is not like no one treated the king with respect either. Plus, Llane seemed a king of the people, not some stuck-up noble who just sits in his castle all day, ruling behind his high walls.
I feel like most of these complaints stem from the fact that you don't seem to have fully mastered the English language or you just weren't really paying attention (why would you go to a Warcraft film if it doesn't ''catch your fancy''???).

[jdbond592]

If they spend less on a sequel they're going to have to cut a lot of CGI just to make a 2H film.

Less CGI is definitely better. This will force director to actually come up with decent script and dialogues and spend time on characters. Considering how inconsistent CGI is at many places, I am glad movie had 2 hrs runtime. A 2 hr 30 min totally polished CGI likely would have pushed cost beyond 200m. Even 3 + hr long RotK didn't cost that much and it had lot of CGI!

[Deleted]

Less CGI is definitely better. This will force director to actually come up with decent script and dialogues and spend time on characters. Considering how inconsistent CGI is at many places, I am glad movie had 2 hrs runtime. A 2 hr 30 min totally polished CGI likely would have pushed cost beyond 200m. Even 3 + hr long RotK didn't cost that much and it had lot of CGI!

You're writing ony to write something?

[Tackhisis]

In fact, there were several instances of laughing at jokes throughout the viewing.

Could you recall what people were laughing at?

[wowaccounttom]

in general i didnt mind wasting my time watching the movie, it was okay...

- dialogue and acting were certain issues that some people may be able to see past and enjoy the entire story... other will be turned off by them right away.
- there were some references that were left unexplained
- dwarves looked weird. like... REALLY weird.
- elves looked like they had glow in the dark sticks for eyes
- orcs for the most part looked okay, with a few exceptions where they still look like a predator with downs

- the little of karazan that was shown looked amazing
- a lot of the landscape tried to remain very faithful to what wow players know
- i heard a murloc making RwlRwlRwlRwl noises.. it was awesome
- some of the fighting was good... the rest, mostly involving x human and y orc, seemed to always be determined by one swing
- with the exception of polymorph and what may be called a mage portal, there were no other class spells or abilities from wow that could be identified (it seems all classes developed all their skills in a timeframe of 10 years after warcraft 2)


recommend to watch it if you have nothing else to do... dont bring a date to the movie unless you are willing to put out afterwards.... and for the bois, make sure to buy your gf something nice afterwards if you dont want to get dumped.

mmmm.... about 6.5/10

[Deleted]

make sure to buy your gf something nice afterwards if you dont want to get dumped.

Even if the movie was total shit, why would your girlfriend want to dump you? It's just a movie.

[jdbond592]

http://chinafilminsider.com/on-scree...ly-male-crowd/

Interesting read regarding the state of the film in China.

Like any other place, little appeal outside of fan-base. Hard to do so when you start your argument with,"fans will love it".

[endersblade]

So, putting this movie into perspective of the game franchise, where are we sitting right now? I haven't played WC1 in, fuck, 25 years? So I'm really rusty on what happens there.

Did the movie take place before WC1, or was it during?

Also, I don't get the thing with Medivh at the end. How can he be dead, but in the games, doesn't he survive, like, until WoW at some point? I know he was in WC3 at least?

My friends and I all agree that it was rather disappointing that fewer classes were represented. Warriors and Mages were the primary ones, that one orc that commands his wolf we have decided could be considered a hunter. I did have to explain to my friends that 'the horde' at this point is just Orcs, they were wondering why there weren't any trolls or undead or anything. Trying to explain such things to plebs

[Deleted]

Also, I don't get the thing with Medivh at the end. How can he be dead, but in the games, doesn't he survive, like, until WoW at some point? I know he was in WC3 at least?

That's more or less Warcraft 1.
And yes, Medhiv dies, then comes back to make his redemption for Warcraft 3.

[endersblade]

That's more or less Warcraft 1.
And yes, Medhiv dies, then comes back to make his redemption for Warcraft 3.

Ahhh, got'cha. I was actually just reading that on the wow wikia lol.

[Rclapsdo]

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[Deleted]

Could you recall what people were laughing at?

It's been over a week now, so I might not remember all of the moments, but the people in the theatre laughed at Lothar feigning wanting to help Khadgar up after Medivh dropped him on the floor in Karazhan, they laughed at the murloc near the bridge and when Lothar's jailer got turned into a sheep by Khadgar. Possibly some other scenes, but as I said, my memory is a bit foggy now

[Deleted]

China Sunday est. 73M/1026M(yuan) 11.1M$/156.33M$

[Lesane]

IDK about all that. By your logic LotR should have started with the War of the Last Alliance and then told the story they did with the films.

The movies did start with a quick recap of that? Just like the Warcraft movie gives a vague recap of why the orcs are trying to get away from their planet. There's a lot of lore that happens before WC1, but WC1 is the start of Warcraft's main storyline.

Remember how The lord of the rings and game of thrones are two hugely popular flicks that have multiple movies and seasons?

Remember how Warcraft is still on shaky ground if they are even gonna break even or not?

So why in gods name would you think doing the opposite of those successful franchises would be good? Also, just cause Warcraft the game began with the first (dull) war, does not mean the movie had to start there.

There is no reason at all they could not have picked a couple characters and told their story among the backdrop of the Warcraft universe.

Have Thralls ass be born and show him grow up and have him know little of his home world or parentage. Then just tell the damn story about his relationships and eventual rise to chief. Go on until you reach Lich King. Then go do your prequels after you already made 10 billion dollars and have a huge established media presence.

All they managed to do by adhering to some asinine chronology was starting off with a shit story that is floundering with all but the biggest fans , and effectively killing the franchise before it started.

They should have known better. Pick one central character that has witnessed the most shit and tell that persons story. Not this hot mess of jumbled (but pretty) scenes.

It's not like all of GoT or LotR came out at once. They started at the beginning of their respective (main) stories. WC1 is the beginning of the Warcraft main story. The Warcraft movie just came out so we don't know yet if it will get a sequel as well, so I don't see how that is even a valid argument.

Here's stuff they need to cover in a WC3 movie:
- Thrall
- Jaina
- Arthas
- Malfurion
- Tyrande
- Illidan
- Kel'thuzad
- Sylvanas
- History of the Horde vs. Alliance conflict (can be summarized)
- Emigration of orcs to Kalimdor
- Plague in human lands
- Scourge
- Quel'thalas and high elves
- Arrival of Burning Legion
- Link between Burning Legion and Scourge
- Link between Burning Legion and Orcs
- The Lich King
- Night Elves and their history with the Burning Legion
- Alliance between Horde, Night Elves and Alliance
- Final stand at Mt. Hyjal

I probably even missed stuff. There's literally so much shit to cover that doing a WC3 movie without having your audience familiar with some of the history/world of what they're watching would be a disaster. This movie, with a relatively simple story compared to WC3 already struggles HARD with properly developing characters, pacing and location hopping. I really don't get how people think dropping a clean slate audience into a 2hr version of WC3 would be a good idea.

I mean, look at your own example. You suggest telling a story from Thrall's POV and explain how he became a chieftain etc. And then you want to go until the Lich King comes into the picture? Don't you realize how massive that story would be? You also can't even get to the Lich King from Thrall's POV since he never actually deals with the Lich King. The whole orc campaign is about migration to Kalimdor and finding a new home for the orcs. They're not really included into the main conflict until near the end (Mt. Hyjal). Again, this movie was already a massive challenge trying to tell stories from 2 sides. Imagine once you have 4 sides.

If they get sequels I suggest they drop Duncan Jones, and try and get Peter Jackson, Andrew Adamson, or Gore Verbinski. At least these guys know how to get Fantasy right. Meaning the costumes were IMO one of the worst things in the movie, instead of looking authentic the Alliance armor looked like "Props".

I don't know what Warcraft you've been playing but the Alliance armor looks like it has always done in the game/cinematics. Duncan Jones is also not even responsible for the armor and costumes. He wrote the script and directed the movie. He doesn't make the special effects or the props and costumes.

I didn't feel they explain this well. There were brown orcs, green ones and mutants orcs?

We're the green ones dead/zombies? How come some were mindless and others were free thinking?

No one in my party of 10 got why they acted like that and what made the brown orcs different besides not being magic mutants.

If you watched the movie and seriously don't get why some orcs are brown and some are green, then you seriously have an attention span of zero or something. The movie literally shows you how brown orcs become green.

And why don't people want Warcraft to follow the model that apparently worked very well and spawned like 6 movies?

As long as the story is about Warcraft, why not follow in those footsteps? I don't get it.

Because they are following that model? This movie didn't start from the beginning, they skipped over the whole history of the orcs and the history of Azeroth. WC1 is the Fellowship of the Ring of the Warcraft universe.

[OreoLover]

Could you recall what people were laughing at?

Answering from my experience:

- "...better than you can hide your fat head...
- *offers helping hand* *TOO SLOW!*
- Murloc
- "He wants to lay with me...I would injure him...he would not make a (worthy?) mate"
- "Hey guard, you're doing a good job...really..." *guard sheeped* *DID I DO THAT?* "Only works on the simple-minded, lasts about a minute"
- *playfully throws pebble at head*
- "Fast thinking, cutting off its head" "Just as planned"

Off the top of my head.

Back on topic: IMAX 3D was fantastic. So very glad I saw it that way.

[Deleted]

Answering from my experience:

- "...better than you can hide your fat head...
- *offers helping hand* *TOO SLOW!*
- Murloc
- "He wants to lay with me...I would injure him...he would not make a (worthy?) mate"
- "Hey guard, you're doing a good job...really..." *guard sheeped* "Only works on the simple-minded, lasts about a minute"
- *playfully throws pebble at head*
- "Fast thinking, cutting off its head" "Just as planned"

Off the top of my head.

Back on topic: IMAX 3D was fantastic. So very glad I saw it that way.

When the prison guard shakes his head and you can hear his helmet rattle. That was a funny moment.

[Fencers]

The Brown Orcs are just regular Orcs, the Green Orcs are ones that have been corrupted by the Fel, and are stronger, but more violent than regular Brown Orcs.

The confusion is not how the orcs are infused with magic (the Fell is kinda poorly explained overall). The confusion came from the fact that some of the green orcs seemed like monstrous with mutations and mindless. Others were like reasonable and honorable (like the green orc who yells out Goldan has no honor), half the brown orcs seemed reasonable and half them were barbaric.

Whatever reason for the orcs being so different magic shenanigans or not- the actions in the film wasn't as clear as to what all this warband, chiefs, clan, blah, blah stuff was to their identity.

The vulgar takeaway was, "Some are good people. Some are monsters." Which is kinda lame considering the two main orcs are so cool and relatable by comparison.

[/quote]It is kind of explained when Medivh first uses his magic on the Orcs, and only the ones that are infused by the Fel are affected, and then much later on when Gul'dan forces into onto Blackhand and he goes from being a pretty honourable, if misguided fella, into basically the Hulk on a bad day.[/QUOTE]Yea, I didn't really get how and why the Guardian turned evil. His heel turn seemed out of nowhere.

How on earth do you have almost 23 000 posts on a World of Warcraft fansite without caring about the franchise? It's madness O.o

I am not a World of Warcraft mod. We have mods of specific forums and those mods are only moderators of the the specific forums they are assigned to as well. I am exclusively a Guild Wars 2 moderator.

I disagree with your dislikes...

Okay, good to know? Weird statement to make.

The actors weren't amazing, but what did you expect from a film where most of the budget has probably gone to creating good CGI?

The same thing I expect out of every movie I ever saw- a good movie.

I am also not sure why you call him an ex-mage, as he casts spells throughout the story. Leaving the Kirin Tor doesn't strip you of your powers...

Well, he made a big deal of renouncing his vows. There is not a lot of info in the film of how the mage order/society works. I figured he was an ex-mage when he returned and within into the cosmic cube/motherbox thing with the witch.

Ex-Wizard or whatever. I am not hung up on it.

I have no idea what you mean by your weird ''huh/oh I get it'' section... are you talking about yourself? The people you were with?

Both, myself and group. That section covered little details I and my family found either 'neat' or 'odd'.

-How on earth can you not know what the film is about?

The plot and editing are terrible.

Why is their world dying? What world is that? How did they know how to build that gateway? If they orcs are from another planet; how do the humans on Azoroth know so much about fell magic and how to make a gateway? Etc, etc.

-I have no idea what you mean by ''everyone in the Allience is casual around the king''... Like, do you not understand why the king and the ones close to him don't act very formally?

It came off really odd. The tone was like nothing was that serious but you had people just lounging about making quips, head cocking and so forth. It was an issue of tonality in the film.

Plus, Llane seemed a king of the people, not some stuck-up noble who just sits in his castle all day, ruling behind his high walls.

I really liked this character in the film actually. I thought he was kinda awesome. Especially at the end when he tell Garmora what she should do to help further peace.

I feel like most of these complaints stem from the fact that you don't seem to have fully mastered the English language

That kind of attempted insult is not necessary really.

you just weren't really paying attention (why would you go to a Warcraft film if it doesn't ''catch your fancy''???).

Again, this kind of soft insult is not needed. I don't feel the film communicated it's ideas effectively; which is the majority opinion among professional critics.

I see every new film in the theater and my kids wanted to see it. Do I have your permission to see the film under such circumstances?

[OreoLover]

Interesting that you think the Easter eggs fans laughed at are funny moments in the film. Those don't work for general audiences and, indeed, the only people I heard laugh at any of those moments were from a group who shouted, "Did someone say Thunderfury?" before the film.

"Could you recall what people were laughing at?"

Interesting you could read my examples, but not the quote above them. Also, 2 Easter egg examples out of 6+.

[Fencers]

If you watched the movie and seriously don't get why some orcs are brown and some are green, then you seriously have an attention span of zero or something. The movie literally shows you how brown orcs become green.

Did you read my posts? How the orcs came to be green and brown was not the source of confusion. How the orcs react and the consistency of their actions within the film relative to their coloration was the point of confusion.

As some seemed mindless, barbaric, honorable, traditionalists, etc- without regard for their coloration. Which would be a narrative mistake in film making.

[OreoLover]

No, I could. But you equating Easter eggs with genuine comedy is laughable. Those weren't funny moments per se, they were simply things that made people giggle because they reminded them of the game.

I equated them as an answer to "what people were laughing at?" There was no further equating, so you're being laughable.

"Also, 2 Easter egg examples out of 6+." since you got back before Edit.