Monday, May 30, 2016

Movie: Warcraft(2016) – My opinion

!!!Spoiler Warning!!! !!!Spoiler Warning!!! !!!Spoiler Warning!!!

!!!Spoiler Warning!!! !!!Spoiler Warning!!! !!!Spoiler Warning!!!

!!!Spoiler Warning!!! !!!Spoiler Warning!!! !!!Spoiler Warning!!!


Is this the one movie who will finally say that video game based movies can be good or should this one be deleted from the cinemas before anyone have to see it? Let's find out.

Azeroth is a peaceful realm until Orcs come through a portal looking for a new place to live. Can humans and orcs live together and share a world or are they destined to be at war forever?

Before I start I just want to let you know that I have played Warcraft for a long time. It started with Warcraft 2 for me and I played everything up to Warlords of Draenor. I had a break from World of Warcraft during The Burning Crusade but got back in in Wrath of the Lich King. All this means that I will talk about this movie with a strong connection too the source-material. I don't know if that's a good thing or not but here we go anyway.

First of lets meet the orcs and lets start big, Durotan(played by Toby Kebbell who is know for his work on RocknRolla, Wrath of the Titans and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), he is the somewhat young warchief for the Frostwolf clan. Being the “young” warchief as they say its quite obvious he is going to be the one to maybe doing things different than what the older orcs would do. Whats great with this character is that you can really see the emotion on his face and there are two reasons for that. Really great visual effects and really good acting. Next up is the orc with the best name, Orgrim Doomhammer(played by Rob Kazinsky who is know for his work on Hot Pursuit, EastEnders and Pacific Rim), friend of Durotan. Orgrim is a really cool character both in game and in the movie. He is one of few Durotan really opens up to which helps us understand whats going on, at least for the people who comes into this movie blind. In my mind Orgrim is great, you will be happy for him, angry towards him and sad for him and that's because of the greatness of Kazinskys acting. Its really hard to get all that through when you are a CGI character. Next up is Draka(played by Anna Galvin who is know for her work on Mr. Young(TV-Series), Smallville(TV-Series) and The boy who cried werewolf) who is mate of Durotan and pregnant with their child. Durotan kinda sneaks her into Azeroth with the warparty that is looking for a new world to live in because he didn't want to leave her behind all alone. She gives birth to the first orc to be born in Azeroth and he is kinda an important character in Warcraft lore. Next we got Blackhand(played by Clancy Brown who is know for his work on Starship Troopers, The Shawshank Redemption and Highlander). I can't say I remember much of him(sorry). In my mind he is more introduced now and will be a bigger character in future movies but he is in the movie and his presence is felt, let's just say it like that. Last of the pure orcs we have baddest warlock in the world, Gul'dan(played by Daniel Wu who is know for his work on Europa Report, One nite in Mongkok and The man with the Iron Fists). He is just a fantastic character. You just love to hate him but on points you might say “hey, maybe hes not such a bad guy/orc”. I just loved everything about this character. Did not care much for him in the games but damn good in the movie. That's a nice bunch of orc we got going on there. Next up is Garona(played by Paula Patton who is know for her work on Deja Vu, 2 Guns and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) who is a half-orc half-human(Change in lore?). Now she is an interesting character in my mind. She starts off as a slave and you can feel that she doesn't really fit with the rest of the orcs. She is another one of those “important to lore” characters and I love every second of her. I think they did her right. At least as I picture her in my mind. Interesting character-arc too. We have Medivh(played by Ben Foster who is known for his work on 3:10 to Yuma, Lone Survivor and Hostage) who is a fantastic character. Ben Foster plays this character fantastic, I loved every second this guy was on screen. Medivh uses magic, of course, and the magic in this movie looks great. The spells feels really heavy and dangerous. Medivh also has a great character arc. Maybe the biggest arc in the movie. The other magic-wielder we have in the movie is Khadgar(played by Ben Schnetzer who is known for his work on Pride, The book thief and The Riot Club). He was an apprentice of Medivh if I remember correctly and one of the strongest mages in the world. He left/quit the Kirin Tor but he is also the one who suspects what is going on when everything starts to go bad. Yet another character I loved watching. He is really powerful but kinda clumsy in a way you can really relate to. Not to many humans that are noteworthy but one of the is of course King Llane Wrynn(played by Dominic Cooper who is known for his work on Captain America: The First Avenger, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Need for Speed), the king of Azeroth. This guy is in a rough place. No one knows whats going on and everyone turns to him for leadership. I won't talk to much about him because of what he is for lore but he really gets to show what kind of man he is. I would have like a bit more intensity in the character but he is fine. The last character I want to talk about is Anduin Lothar(played by Travis Fimmel who is known for his work on The Experiment, The Baytown Outlaws and Vikings(TV-Series)). A character that very quickly could have been a annoying know-it-all douchebag but luckily Fimmel plays him to perfection. And I do think that Fimmel is really having fun with this character. Fantastic character with a fantastic actor. So that's the ones I feel like needed to be mentioned. It looks like a lot and that it might be overwhelming but it really isn't and I think that is thanks to the director(Directed by Duncan Jones who is known for directing Whistle, Source Code and Moon) knowing what he is doing. Very impressive.

The story is not anything new if you know your Warcraft lore but it is a good story. People who know the lore is going to recognize whats going on and people who don't know the lore will not be lost. One thing I really think is a good thing is that there is not one side that is favored by the makes. Both the orcs and the humans get presented in a way where you can choose to cheer for either of them, or both. Its also really good to new viewers. It sets up all the characters in the story in a nice way. Nothing really feels forced in there. What really excites me is the way it sets up more movies. I think everyone understood that this is probably going to be a movie series. I can only wonder how many will go crazy when we get to the World of Warcraft time. As I stated this movie could be seen of all. It is a great epic fantasy movie with characters all can get behind. They are not leaving the non fans of Warcraft behind. There are tons of easter eggs for the fans which is fantastic. Some will say that there are too few races in the movie but there really aren't. The movie is 2 hours long, can you imagine how long it would be if everything everyone would see in it would be in there. And they need to save something for the sequels. When I saw the movies runtime of a little more than 2 hours I got kinda nervous. A big problem with a lot of movies is that they run to long and that causes awkward pacing and boring parts but there is no boring parts in this movie. I was entertained from the first frame to the last frame. The one thing I had a problem with is the CGI which sounds stupid because there is some next level CGI in this movie. The orcs look really great, its really impressive what they have done there. The problem is still that they are animated in a world that's supposed to be real. It feels like a pixar movie has bled over to a live action movie. I don't see how they could have done it any other way and this is a really small thing. It works it just kinda annoyed me. A lot of people do not react to that and that's great. Another thing is when there is a CGI battle in the background and things like that. Sometimes you can that its not that great. Having said that I must say its still worth the watch. Watch it in the cinema if you can. There is too much great about this movie too let it go by if you like Warcraft or fantasy. I have to say I expected more for the ending but its fine. Makes me want to see a sequel even more.

This movie is great. Just a great time at the cinema. Just sit back with your popcorn in one hand and your girl in your other hand. Great action, epic battle-scenes, and great emotion. Recommended for all who like fantasy and orcs.

TL;DR
Good movie, great action, great acting all around, a director who really knows the source material and understands the story, just a good time at the cinema, Runtime about 123 minutes.

My question for you:
Do you want more Warcraft movies?
Worst/best thing about the movie for you?
What do you want from the next Warcraft movie?
What race/class it your race/class(I'm a Troll/Mage)?


Please leave a comment(negative,positive, suggestions or/and answers).

Until next time, stay fresh.

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