Why the Warcraft movie failed

[Deleted]

I know the Warcraft movie was a huge succes in Asia, but here is what Duncan Jones had to say about previous big fantasy novels and movies:

When we were writing the film, it was also really important to me that we maintain the balance that they got so right in that game. Multiple key characters in our film are women and are not love interests. They stand up and work in the film in their own right.

How do you balance that with appealing to these hardcore fans?

It’s not a problem, because Warcraft by its very nature has always represented different races and genders.

So you feel you don’t have the same problems you would face in adapting something like Tolkien?

Exactly. It wasn’t written by an old, white man in the trenches in World War I. It’s going to have a different vibe.

He literally shits on the most important fantasy writer who had ever lived, where countless amount of fantasy genres got their inspiration from. "Don't worry guys, Warcraft won't be the fantasy of a dull old white man that fought in World War 1, it won't be sexist and racist"

I can already see why his movie failed so hard in the west with that mindset.

[Traveler Voltin]

it failed because it felt rushed. 40 minutes of the movie was forced to be removed.

[Onikaroshi]

it failed because it felt rushed. 40 minutes of the movie was forced to be removed.

40 minutes that probably pull the plot and character development together better.

[Triginhil]

Movie should have been a trilogy or series of films, not a 2 hour film trying to shove 15 years of lore into it. If they would have gone the way of LoTR or Star Wars (pre-disney) and focused on a few characters at a time, for example the downfall of Draenor to Outlands, rise of gul'dan and coming to Azeroth as 1 film, that would have left us on a good cliff hanger for the 2nd film, the humans side of things.

They could have also flushed out the story a bit better, Nobbel on youtube has done an expansive guide to almost every wow character and lore. Watching the movie only confused the heck out of me because certain characters were given roles or titles that they didn't originally have.

It was a good film for the casual warcraft fan but it could have been so much more.

I'm hoping they go back and try to make more movies, but slow down the pace of it and take it slow. Let us take in the Azeroth environment slowly, not shove it in our face in 2 - 3 second clips

[ymn]

It didn't fail over in China.

Also, what they should've done is released a Band of Brothers-type series that went into more detail (probably a bit more expensive), but relatively easy to follow and do a movie AFTER those series - and if the short series is a success, the movie would warrant the same. But Blizzard is known to not be a ballsy company in terms of spending money on projects or putting forth new ideas (new Blizzardision).

Personally, I liked the movie, it also didn't feel "rushed", but I watched it with a friend who knew nothing of Warcraft universe and when he asked me to explain what happened to Medivh that means mentioning Sargeras and explaining the whole thing, which kind-of kills the buzz.

[oblakoff]

It failed, because of the Metzen bullshit "Orcs dindu nuffin"

[Traveler Voltin]

40 minutes that probably pull the plot and character development together better.

from what was hinted at a few times, yes it would have.

[Orby]

I will stand by the fact that I enjoyed the movie. But I totally see the flaws the movie had, It was going to be hard to fit the entire first war into a 2 hour movie...

There are so many factors that went into the whole first war as well as the backstories it wasnt going to be an easy task, as someone who knew the Warcraft lore going in, it was easy for me, but I had friends that didn't have a clue what was happening or who any of the characters were.

For me it was nice eye candy to se some things on the big screen, it felt like a sight seeing movie. "oh look there's Goldshire, there's a murloc, there's Karazhan... I know these places" :P

[Triginhil]

It didn't fail over in China.

Personally, I liked the movie, it also didn't feel "rushed", but I watched it with a friend who knew nothing of Warcraft universe and when he asked me to explain what happened to Medivh that means mentioning Sargeras and explaining the whole thing, which kind-of kills the buzz.

I had to do the same with my gf, she knew Medivh had been corrupted by she had no idea how or why. She also didn't know why the orcs wanted to come to Azeroth so badly. Explaining things to her kind of killed the immersion a plot a bit cuz i started finding loop holes.

[George Lucas]

I know the Warcraft movie was a huge succes in Asia, but here is what Duncan Jones had to say about previous big fantasy novels and movies:

When we were writing the film, it was also really important to me that we maintain the balance that they got so right in that game. Multiple key characters in our film are women and are not love interests. They stand up and work in the film in their own right.

How do you balance that with appealing to these hardcore fans?

It’s not a problem, because Warcraft by its very nature has always represented different races and genders.

So you feel you don’t have the same problems you would face in adapting something like Tolkien?

Exactly. It wasn’t written by an old, white man in the trenches in World War I. It’s going to have a different vibe.

He literally shits on the most important fantasy writer who had ever lived, where countless amount of fantasy genres got their inspiration from. "Don't worry guys, Warcraft won't be the fantasy of a dull old white man that fought in World War 1, it won't be sexist and racist"

I can already see why his movie failed so hard in the west with that mindset.

Well, I don't think the movie flopped because of his perception of fantasy literature, he is just a mediocre film maker. Sure Moon is okay, but it is his best movie and I would rate it 6 out of 10. Add to this that they tried to constantly remind people that the movie is based on WoW because no one played Warcraft I and II and that they heavily catered to popular trends because of corporate interests. These are the problems, not that he is also a braindead imbecile who dares to insult Tolkien's work. He made a movie neither for the fans nor a new audience.

[this is caranthir]

His comment on Tolkien is really dumb.

[Zora-Prime]

It also bothered me how Garona was half human in the movie and not half draenei.

[Hipnos14]

For me the movie was really sad, they changed key moments in the story, and characters, like making Alodi a woman instead of using the original character, Aegwynn.
Other than that, if Duncan really said that, I think now I understand things like the Asian high elves, and I hope he never touches the Warcraft franchise again.
Warcraft is a Tolkien kind of fantasy world, only white humans, and then new races on top of that, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, the same way that there is nothing wrong with a movie with only black people on it, it's art, and the world should be respected.

Thank god The Lord of the Rings was done years ago, if it was done today It would be just insulting to watch.

[LuminaL]

Because it was made poorly.

[Dellis0991]

They fucked the lore from beginning to end.

[Goldielocks]

The irony here is that Jackson kind of agrees with Jones on this topic. Arwen was given a bigger role in LOTR because he believed there were too many men. YET, it was fine because he actually knew what he was doing.

Jones is just mediocre. That's why the movie flopped.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Game movies are always starting from a position of weakness due to their tendency for being bad.

Warcraft did little to avert those fears, especially through heavy modification of the plot to honestly make it more Metzan-era Warcraft.

[AngryTenko]

It was a bad movie. Weird pacing, boring dialogue, terrible characterization. The actor who played Anduin Lothar is absolutely TERRIBLE. Gul'dan hulking out was ridiculous and ruined his character. Also, they tried to cram too much story in 40 minutes and it all felt rushed and confusing. I can't imagine what it looked like for someone who doesn't know the Warcraft franchise.

[TheVaryag]

I know the Warcraft movie was a huge succes in Asia, but here is what Duncan Jones had to say about previous big fantasy novels and movies:

When we were writing the film, it was also really important to me that we maintain the balance that they got so right in that game. Multiple key characters in our film are women and are not love interests. They stand up and work in the film in their own right.

How do you balance that with appealing to these hardcore fans?

It’s not a problem, because Warcraft by its very nature has always represented different races and genders.

So you feel you don’t have the same problems you would face in adapting something like Tolkien?

Exactly. It wasn’t written by an old, white man in the trenches in World War I. It’s going to have a different vibe.

He literally shits on the most important fantasy writer who had ever lived, where countless amount of fantasy genres got their inspiration from. "Don't worry guys, Warcraft won't be the fantasy of a dull old white man that fought in World War 1, it won't be sexist and racist"

I can already see why his movie failed so hard in the west with that mindset.

To me as a hardcore fan of WoW and the lore the reason Is simple: Fucking up the lore too much, just to list off things on my mind right now.


- Floating Dalaran, wrong, It was on the ground at that time
- Involving the first Guardian was fun and Interesting but they genderswapped Alodi, It wasn't a she but a male half-human/elf and not trapped In some weird box or whatever.
- Using Ragnar Lothbrok's actor as Lothar just didn't feel right. To me Lothar Is this older experienced man, a big true warrior with less humour and more of a serious vibe. Don't get me wrong, he's a great, great actor but he just didn't suit the role to me. I'd have even taken Charles Dance as Lothar, might still be imagening he's evil but that's my GoT bias, It would pass.
- The orcs just had a portal connected at all times In real lore and It wasn't about sending a small group through and then to establish a bigger connection with more sacrifices and with Medivh's help. He already did the spell to connect the two portals In the first place, that's how they got there In the FIRST PLACE.
- The King didn't die like he did In the Movie, by Garona sure, but not fighting at the Portal and not by a WILLING Garona.
- Medivh wasn't killed like that either, Lothar had the queen as his sister which was actually fine to me, could've connected the story more for actual wow lore. Garona didn't look enough orc, just putting green over her didn't look or feel right.
- The orcs looked amazing, even If a little too exhadirated perhaps. And I say that as a giant orc fanboy.
- Weird romance with Garona and Lothar, why? Just no.
- How Durotan challenged Gul'dan to Mak'gora, wrong. If anything he'd challenge Blackhand, he's the Warchief. And in real lore, Orgrim challenged Blackhand and Orgrim was actually a Blackrock not a Frostwolf and I still wonder why If he's a frostwolf does he carry a weapon previously wielded by Blackhand and made by Blackrock Orcs (But that's just a problem of the bigger scope of lore that they didn't consider well)
- Lothar having a son just to have him die by orcs to have an even bigger reason to hate them and Blackhand specificly who he then powerslide kills with one hit? Really? Blackhand, one of the most powerful warriors the Horde can offer, Infused with Fel no less, beaten by a random human's powerslide move. I expected fighting like the Warcraft 3 Cinematic where the Infernal drops down as the soldier and grunt die, you know show us how human and orc can truly fight together.

And that's only off the top of my head, as again, a hardcore wow player since classic and a lore nerd. I'm sure and I know that to many people the movie without the wow-knowledge, a non-wow player enjoyed It but It was a resounding "Okay" movie to them, friends and family who told me about It. And that's the problem, they went for a resounding "Okay" from most people and then a giant "No" from Hardcore wow players. Rather then going for a giant "Fudge yes" from hardcore players and a "Ehh?" from your casual movie goer.

40 minutes that probably pull the plot and character development together better.

One point up, you got It.

No seriously, those 40 mins might've helped, who knows but still wouldn't solve the bigger lore issues I've mentioned above.

[Gaexion Ramza Beoulve]

Half cgi cutscene and half actual movie, should have just been a GCI movie.

They could easily give pixar a run for their money and create a new genre of Mature CG animation.

It wasn't horrible but more like mediocre fan service.