Damn shame. I was actually rooting for this one. Sounded like the people involved were really out to make a go of it. Which might just be part of the problem.
You ever meet a rabid fan of something who really, really wanted to share their favourite thing with you? Except instead of just telling you a bit about it and seeing if you're interested they instead bombarded you with every detail, all the while frothing at the mouth? Yeah, well, the Warcraft movie is like being stuck in an elevator with that guy for a couple of hours.
All those video game movies that sucked, at least in part, because the people making them didn't give a crap about the source material and now we have one that sucks, at least in part, because the people making it were too damn in love with the source material.
For a film titled "war craft" there's precious little action. And still less of it is any good. Have you seen this clip [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqL5rYJawuc]? If so then congratulations, you've seen the lion's share of decent action that the film has to offer.
The dialogue is bad. It strongly reminds me of M Night Shyamalan's Avatar movie. 99% of lines are exposition. No personailty, no characterization, just one-note motherfuckers constantly explaining shit to the audience. Have you seen this clip [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFgAnfjnCj4]? Because that's about as good as it gets. That and one other scene with the main orc guy and his wife talking about their plans that manages to be kinda endearing.
As for the acting, well... I'm hesitant to talk shit about actor's performances because I don't know a damn thing about acting. But speaking as an audience member I was not impressed. The human characters are especially iffy. Between the plastic looking sets and the heavy CGI the actual human actors look bizarrely out of place. The wizard guardian something something of Azeroth looks like a sterotypical hippie with a hangover. Much of the rest of the cast looks like they'd be more at home in a TV drama about college students. It's as if every experienced, talented and/or well known actor in the business heard the phrase "video game adaption" and wisely ran for the airlock. (All except for Michael Fassbender who was unable to make it out before the doors were sealed and was subsequently hunted down by the Ubisoft casting squad for their upcoming Assassin's Creed.)
The orc characters fare a good bit better. I don't know if that's because I can't actually see them or if they're just better at their jobs. But any time there isn't an orc on screen it all goes to shit.
Oh, and then there's the lady playing Gorona, the half-orc, half human (I think). I almost feel sorry for her. She was trying so damn hard, you can almost hear her gritting her plastic orc teeth in an effort to channel Zoe Saldana.
It all adds up to a generic fantasy grab bag so lacking in identity that if they had changed some names and removed the one shot of a murloc then they could have released this film as Dungeons & Dragons or Warhammer or whatever without anybody even noticing. A film that seems convinced that it's parade of corny cliche is the stuff of epic mythmaking.
Then to top it all off it doesn't even conclude its story. The whole plot amounts to a two hour prologue explaining why there's a war(craft). It's like watching the prequel to a film that doesn't exist.
Bleh.
On the plus side, the orcs did look pretty fucking amazing.
You ever meet a rabid fan of something who really, really wanted to share their favourite thing with you? Except instead of just telling you a bit about it and seeing if you're interested they instead bombarded you with every detail, all the while frothing at the mouth? Yeah, well, the Warcraft movie is like being stuck in an elevator with that guy for a couple of hours.
All those video game movies that sucked, at least in part, because the people making them didn't give a crap about the source material and now we have one that sucks, at least in part, because the people making it were too damn in love with the source material.
For a film titled "war craft" there's precious little action. And still less of it is any good. Have you seen this clip [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqL5rYJawuc]? If so then congratulations, you've seen the lion's share of decent action that the film has to offer.
The dialogue is bad. It strongly reminds me of M Night Shyamalan's Avatar movie. 99% of lines are exposition. No personailty, no characterization, just one-note motherfuckers constantly explaining shit to the audience. Have you seen this clip [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFgAnfjnCj4]? Because that's about as good as it gets. That and one other scene with the main orc guy and his wife talking about their plans that manages to be kinda endearing.
As for the acting, well... I'm hesitant to talk shit about actor's performances because I don't know a damn thing about acting. But speaking as an audience member I was not impressed. The human characters are especially iffy. Between the plastic looking sets and the heavy CGI the actual human actors look bizarrely out of place. The wizard guardian something something of Azeroth looks like a sterotypical hippie with a hangover. Much of the rest of the cast looks like they'd be more at home in a TV drama about college students. It's as if every experienced, talented and/or well known actor in the business heard the phrase "video game adaption" and wisely ran for the airlock. (All except for Michael Fassbender who was unable to make it out before the doors were sealed and was subsequently hunted down by the Ubisoft casting squad for their upcoming Assassin's Creed.)
The orc characters fare a good bit better. I don't know if that's because I can't actually see them or if they're just better at their jobs. But any time there isn't an orc on screen it all goes to shit.
Oh, and then there's the lady playing Gorona, the half-orc, half human (I think). I almost feel sorry for her. She was trying so damn hard, you can almost hear her gritting her plastic orc teeth in an effort to channel Zoe Saldana.
It all adds up to a generic fantasy grab bag so lacking in identity that if they had changed some names and removed the one shot of a murloc then they could have released this film as Dungeons & Dragons or Warhammer or whatever without anybody even noticing. A film that seems convinced that it's parade of corny cliche is the stuff of epic mythmaking.
Then to top it all off it doesn't even conclude its story. The whole plot amounts to a two hour prologue explaining why there's a war(craft). It's like watching the prequel to a film that doesn't exist.
Bleh.
On the plus side, the orcs did look pretty fucking amazing.
