Warcraft reviews not looking great

[RaikuFA]

Or maybe it's Disney's fault again. I guess that petition to force Disney to stop paying off all of the reviewers to crap on every non Disney movie just didn't work.

Are you serious? That's a thing? That has to be the stupidest thing I ever heard of.

https://www.change.org/p/rotten-tomatoes-stop-disney-from-influencing-critics-on-mcu-bias?source_location=topic_page

With 925 signatures. It's one of those things that make me want either laugh at humanity or cry for it. For those that don't like links:

There is growing evidence Disney has been continually influencing critics to attack Non MCU movies. MCU movies are safe. They're not challenging at all. Just like a comic book movie is "supposed to be". They're not divisive or thought provoking. First they bashed Batman V Superman.They cleared BvS out of the way, gave Civil War (which wasn't a perfect film) to be seen as perfect., now they're going to work on moving Apocalypse out the way...then they get offended when they're accused of accepting marvel bias. Films like Days Of Future Past did receive good reviews due to the fact it came out in 2014 when there was hardly any competition from MCU films. Had the movie been released in 2015 against Ant-Man it would have gotten the Man of Steel treatment. Deadpool would have also suffered the same fate however it was released in February when there was no MCU movies being released at the time and was not an immediate threat. Films like the Force Awakens which essentially just a modern day rehash of the First Star Wars also get universal praise since Disney acquired the rights.We need to raise awareness of this global plan to keep our films creative or risk have everything fall under the Disney label. Each studio brings their own distinctive and creative work and Disney needs to stop being greedy and understand this. Support DC and keep Marvel at Fox.

And the funny thing is that the petition is aimed at Rotten Tomatoes whom, for those that don't know, are partially owned by Warner Brothers.

Oh.

Oh my.

Oh my God.

Beautiful. Just beautiful. It's the Mona Lisa of stupidity. Angels came down and just told me that yes, this was the stupidest thing ever written.

There's a tear rolling down my eye with a huge grin.

 

[anthony87]

Yeah because its not like film critics are ever wrong or anything...

Define "wrong" when we're giving subjective opinions of how much you enjoyed something?

That and lets be honest here, when an overwhelming majority of critics pan something, it's not a good sign.

"Wrong" as in I disagree with what they say and I quite enjoy what they didn't like.

I'd hardly say its an overwhelming majority anyways, the European reviews have been quite positive.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Imagine Battlefield Earth without the verve....

Oh, no. Unless the Warcraft movie kicks my popcorn out of my hands and dumps my soda in my lap, it can not be worse than Battlefield Earth was.

Hey, low blow, Variety. I enjoyed Battlefield Earth.

...you are no longer invited to my Sweet Sixteen party.

 

[mduncan50]

Oh.

Oh my.

Oh my God.

Beautiful. Just beautiful. It's the Mona Lisa of stupidity. Angels came down and just told me that yes, this was the stupidest thing ever written.

There's a tear rolling down my eye with a huge grin.

It takes a special kind of person to believe that when your opinion is in the minority, the only possible explanation is that there is a grand conspiracy at work. Especially when you look at the movies they are so voraciously defending as being deep and "challenging". Challenging to sit through, I guess. And I love that they claim to be all about keeping influence away from the critics, then ends with "Support DC and keep Marvel at Fox".

 

[Skatalite]

So, now that Warcraft is looking bad, whats the next video game movie up that might be good? I know Nintendo will have something out in 3-4 years, and Assassin's Creed comes out this year (Christ...), anything else happening soon?

As long as studios keep trying to make movies out of games with bad stories like Assassin's Creed, Angry Birds, Need for Speed, Hitman and Nintendo games, probably not for a long time.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

So, now that Warcraft is looking bad, whats the next video game movie up that might be good? I know Nintendo will have something out in 3-4 years, and Assassin's Creed comes out this year (Christ...), anything else happening soon?

As long as studios keep trying to make movies out of games with bad stories like Assassin's Creed, Angry Birds, Need for Speed, Hitman and Nintendo games, probably not for a long time.

They could have just used Ezio's story for the AC movie.

And the Wrcraft movie has plenty of good stories you just choose not to see the lore.

 

[Falling_v1legacy]

SNIP

Hey, I'm a 90s kid too. Born March, 1990. I have more 90s in my veins than Vanilla Ice and a Clinton Presidency combined. And I maintain the Batman Animated Series, Freakazoid and Animaniacs as the Trinity of perfect cartoons. Each one was 100% at what it was trying to do.

But Warcraft is less Batman and more Freakazoid, and that's the way it should be. I love 90s culture. I respect it as only a 90s kid can. But I'm fully capable of admitting Nerf Guns and Crazy Bones were stupid!
Fantastic, but stupid.

A Warcraft movie really should be the Fantasy equivalent of like...Borderlands or Mass Effect's Citadel DLC. Self aware and will the balls to just say have Wrex and Grunt get into a "SHEPARD!" shouting match.

I don't know. My introduction to the Warcraft universe was Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. I always felt like I was playing the darker parts of the Silmarillion or something. I went back to Warcraft I years later and found it light on story, but not too out of keeping from the Warcraft II tone. It's really only Warcraft III and most especially WoW where the universe really gets bonkers.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Ever heard of a movie called The Counsellor [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2193215/?ref_=nv_sr_1]? Not only did it have Fassbender, but also Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz, was directed by **Ridley Scott**, and written, of all people, by the massively acclaimed Cormac McCarthy. And it was met with near-universal derision. Just a note about names being able to save a terrible film.

Well there's your problem. The Martian aside, Scott has been on an unbelievable futility streak since Gladiator. His modern day Robin Hood treatment was one of the most risible films I ever saw.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

David Bowie was Duncan Jones' dad?!

Huh. You learn something crazy every day.

Fun fact: Duncan Jones is not his birth name. He had it legally changed from Zowie Bowie as soon as he turned 18, because he knew he'd never be taken seriously as a director with a name like that. I'm not kidding.

OT: Disappointing, because you'd think a Warcraft movie would be quite easy to do well after LOTR showed how to do fantasy right, and Duncan Jones is a solid director. Ah, well, maybe the next video game movie will do well.

 

[Hawki]

I don't know. My introduction to the Warcraft universe was Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. I always felt like I was playing the darker parts of the Silmarillion or something. I went back to Warcraft I years later and found it light on story, but not too out of keeping from the Warcraft II tone. It's really only Warcraft III and most especially WoW where the universe really gets bonkers.

As someone who's played all three Warcraft RTS games, I can't really call any of them dark. WC1 basically has no story to speak of. WC2 has a bit more narrative, but it's not a dark story, and I can only think of two actual dark moments (a point where an orc burns human corpses, and the ending of the Horde campaign in Tides of Darkness). Warcraft III has by far the darkest moments and storyline (Arthas's descent and killing Terenas, the Scourge campaign in its entirety, the feeling of dread as the Burning Legion pops up more and more through the Horde and Sentinel campaign, etc.), but is it a dark game in of itself? No, I wouldn't say so. No more than Lord of the Rings is a dark story, even when it's based on a conflict where the stakes are life and liberty for the Free Peoples of an entire continent.

Well there's your problem. The Martian aside, Scott has been on an unbelievable futility streak since Gladiator. His modern day Robin Hood treatment was one of the most risible films I ever saw.

I'd actually add The Martian to that streak. It was a decent film, but that was about it. Decent. It pales when compared to both the book it's based on, and some of Scott's earlier works as well (e.g. Alien and Blade Runner).

OT: Disappointing, because you'd think a Warcraft movie would be quite easy to do well after LOTR showed how to do fantasy right, and Duncan Jones is a solid director. Ah, well, maybe the next video game movie will do well.

Come to think of it...has anyone done (high) fantasy right in the filmscape since Lord of the Rings?

I'm serious, as far as high fantasy films go, I can't think of a similar successful series post-LotR. I enjoyed the first Chronicles of Narnia movie, and the books were my jam back in the day (bar The Last Battle, but that's another issue), but while I can't comment on the other two films, that series is now stuck in some strange limbo with the bizzare idea of beginning a new series with The Silver Chair. There's the Harry Potter film series of course - films that I think are decent, if not outright "good," - but they're still urban/low fantasy ("low fantasy" as in the genre, not the descriptive), and of a different type than LotR. Haven't seen them, but The Golden Compass, Eragon, and Percy Jackson both died out as far as films go (doesn't help that, IMO, the first two examples there had iffy source material in the first place). Spiderwick Chronicle was reportedly decent, but again, different type of fantasy, and it's fallen off the radar. Alice in Wonderland, I'd rather not talk about. And this year, we've had The Huntsman: Winter's War and Gods of Egypt, both of which were drek for me, and critical consensus seems to agree with that assessment. As unpopular as this might be, I think The Hobbit films might be some of the best (high) fantasy movies since Lord of the Rings, that while nowhere near as good, still managed to actually be good films in their own right.

So yeah. Enough of "the first good videogame movie," if a high fantasy movie can at least be decent, maybe that's a win in itself. 0_0

 

[Mr.Mattress]

The prospect of a predominantly white, European realm being invaded by foreign, primitive, darker skinned hordes (they are actually called the Horde) might set alarm bells ringing in our current climate of immigration anxiety. Is this a veiled Ukip broadcast? Or a pro-Trump one?

Well if Azeroth had a post-colonial benefits system we wouldn't need to craft war.

... Would it be bad if I told you that the Orcs after WCII were put in internment camps? Because they were put in internment camps and were basically not allowed to do anything.

OT: Oh, that's so disheartening. I love WarCraft, and even though I haven't played and WC since MoP, I've kept up with the lore. I am so disappointed that the movie sucks. How can these people ruin a WC movie? I mean, I know they were doing the first game first, but even though it was basically a 'good v. evil' fantasy plot, it shouldn't be this bad. I guess the decision to make the Orcs and Environments CGI but the Humans live action was a really bad one.

Now we'll never get a WCIII trilogy...

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Hey, low blow, Variety. I enjoyed Battlefield Earth.

...you are no longer invited to my Sweet Sixteen party.

Wait, I was invited? Damn.
I better not mention that I enjoyed other timeless classics, such as the Super Mario Bros. Movie, and APEX, among others.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Ever heard of a movie called The Counsellor [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2193215/?ref_=nv_sr_1]? Not only did it have Fassbender, but also Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz, was directed by **Ridley Scott**, and written, of all people, by the massively acclaimed Cormac McCarthy. And it was met with near-universal derision. Just a note about names being able to save a terrible film.

Well there's your problem. The Martian aside, Scott has been on an unbelievable futility streak since Gladiator. His modern day Robin Hood treatment was one of the most risible films I ever saw.

Gotta admit, you're kinda right. I haven't seen half of the movies he's directed since Gladiator, but going by critical consensus, there's definitely more misses than hits there. I quite enjoy Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut obviously), American Gangster is legitimately a good movie, and I've understood Black Hawk Down isn't that bad. But when taking into account duds like Prometheus, A Good Year, Robin Hood and Exodus: Gods and Kings, his resume from the 2000s onward isn't really anything to write home about. His movies always look gorgeous (going by what I've seen), but that's about it for the most part.

 

[elvor0]

OT: Disappointing, because you'd think a Warcraft movie would be quite easy to do well after LOTR showed how to do fantasy right, and Duncan Jones is a solid director. Ah, well, maybe the next video game movie will do well.

I still haven't seen it yet, and I didn't have any expectations because video game movie, but it's still somewhat disappointing to hear it getting panned. Despite not being enthused by the trailers(which even Jones himself wasn't really hot on), everyone involved really seemed to care. It hasn't felt like a cash grab at any point, Jones really does seem to be into what he was doing, especially with so much attention to detailing.

 

[deadish]

Some of the trailers remind me of 90s FMV games.

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

I'm still gonna watch it. I've never really cared for what critics say.
I've always felt that if the overall consensus is that something is shit, there's a higher chance that I'll find it shit too.
So I try to go into a movie without listening to others opinions on it. Done wonders actually. Really made movie watching a lot more enjoyable.

EDIT: Screw it. I caved. I looked at quite a lot of reviews.
The consensus seems to be this. For people with no interest in Warcraft lore, or who've not played the games, the movie is pretty damn bad.
For people with lore interest, or who've played the games, the movie is pretty good.

Take from this whatever you want.

 

[mduncan50]

OT: Disappointing, because you'd think a Warcraft movie would be quite easy to do well after LOTR showed how to do fantasy right, and Duncan Jones is a solid director. Ah, well, maybe the next video game movie will do well.

I still haven't seen it yet, and I didn't have any expectations because video game movie, but it's still somewhat disappointing to hear it getting panned. Despite not being enthused by the trailers(which even Jones himself wasn't really hot on), everyone involved really seemed to care. It hasn't felt like a cash grab at any point, Jones really does seem to be into what he was doing, especially with so much attention to detailing.

When they're offering a free month of WoW for those that go see it, I have a hard time seeing it as anything but a cash grab on both sides of the coin.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Hey, low blow, Variety. I enjoyed Battlefield Earth.

...you are no longer invited to my Sweet Sixteen party.

Wait, I was invited? Damn.
I better not mention that I enjoyed other timeless classics, such as the Super Mario Bros. Movie, and APEX, among others.

Hey man, there's nothing wrong with enjoying trash if you know it's trash and enjoy it for what it is anyway. I mean sheesh I had a good time with freakin' Aeon Flux and boy that was a disaster, and I'm one of the most critical people my friends know.

 

[elvor0]

OT: Disappointing, because you'd think a Warcraft movie would be quite easy to do well after LOTR showed how to do fantasy right, and Duncan Jones is a solid director. Ah, well, maybe the next video game movie will do well.

I still haven't seen it yet, and I didn't have any expectations because video game movie, but it's still somewhat disappointing to hear it getting panned. Despite not being enthused by the trailers(which even Jones himself wasn't really hot on), everyone involved really seemed to care. It hasn't felt like a cash grab at any point, Jones really does seem to be into what he was doing, especially with so much attention to detailing.

When they're offering a free month of WoW for those that go see it, I have a hard time seeing it as anything but a cash grab on both sides of the coin.

Well...yeah. They want people who see the movie who haven't played the game before to be able to actually play it, I'm not sure what's so sinister about that. It makes perfect sense as a promotion.

 

[Hawki]

Hey, low blow, Variety. I enjoyed Battlefield Earth.

...you are no longer invited to my Sweet Sixteen party.

Wait, I was invited? Damn.
I better not mention that I enjoyed other timeless classics, such as the Super Mario Bros. Movie, and APEX, among others.

Hey man, there's nothing wrong with enjoying trash if you know it's trash and enjoy it for what it is anyway. I mean sheesh I had a good time with freakin' Aeon Flux and boy that was a disaster, and I'm one of the most critical people my friends know.

Or you could, I dunno, genuinely enjoy these films?

I'll add my voice to the choir to say that I do enjoy Battlefield Earth, not in a "so bad it's good" way, but more a "huh, that was fairly decent" kind of way. I'm well aware I'm in the minority, and I don't think it's so good that I feel compelled to expend that much time or energy defending it, but I think it's disingenuous to assume that anyone who claims to like what's generally regarded to be a poor piece of media is only doing so for the reasons of "it's so bad it's good."