Writer: Naseem Randhawa

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Watch this if you liked: "The Hobbit", "Beowulf"

The Good, the Bad and the Movie for Gamers:

There has never been such a mixed bag of opinions on one movie since "Batman V Superman: The Dawn of Justice", but here it is once again where fans and critics have opposing views on a movie.

Some find "Warcraft" too erratic and self-indulgent in its gaming universe, however "Warcraft" gamers and those who are suckers for epic fantasy films in general would not find the movie as meager.

So which way do we sway?

To be fair, we were very much looking forward to promising filmmaker Duncan Jones' ("Moon") big budgeted USD160 million film, but we were left slightly underwhelmed as the after effect of being overwhelmed with too many things at one go.

It's not the wonderful and brilliant battle effects that are the problem here, as the thorn in what could've been a perfect rose lies in its erratic story narrative and sometimes rather unpolished plot.

"Warcraft" starts out with a great tone as its simple voiceover narrative allows even those unfamiliar with the game to understand that there are two factions against each other, the humans and orcs, and which tells of a pending perilous war.

We tried to keep track of all the characters in "Warcraft" and why they even matter, but with barely a proper introduction for them, we are left not caring or oblivious why they're important to the story in the first place, especially since we are also flipped back and forth across different locations in the "Warcraft" universe.

It is true that one can compare "Warcraft" to "Game of Thrones", especially since there are also many characters and the different locations to keep track of in the latter, however this formula works better for "Game of Thrones" due to its episodic format where everything is paced evenly thus viewers are able to digest the story. In "Warcraft", everything is rushed and eager viewers who would want to learn of the lore are left unsatisfied or confused.

Gamers however, would not have much trouble keeping up and might even praise the movie for staying true to its source material.

One good thing that can be said about the pacing of the film though, is that it is never lacking any sort of action. Each clash and fight between humans and orcs are choreographed to near perfection and the brilliant use of effects is good enough to warrant a ticket purchase.

As for the cast, surprisingly the orcs outshine the human characters. Fans of the TV series, "Vikings" might be excited to see Travis Fimmel wield the blade as Sir Anduin Lothar, and Paula Patton sizzles as the half-human half-orc, Garona Halforcen, but more empathy is felt for Toby Kebbell as Durotan, the noble orc chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan who exudes a relatability towards his character.

Satisfying its "Warcraft" gamers, the movie leaves newcomers of the franchise slightly puzzled with its erratic story pacing yet dazzled with its effects instead.


Cinema Online, 09 June 2016