As a fan of the game franchise and a previous hardcore raider and a current casual player I am very biased. My bias here tends to be with and against the movie.
The bias against the movie is a product of my knowledge that there are many other Warcraft stories that could be told, much stronger and more appealing ones, especially to those who know nothing about the game franchise. A very good example of these stories is the story of Arthas Menethil and his turn to villainous as he becomes the Lich King, the destruction he brought and the fight to free the world of his evil.
Nonetheless, it is worth noting that while I sit here making conclusions about what other viewers might have liked I believe the truth might as well be that taking the story one step at a time until we get to the better times might be the best way to get the viewers acquainted with the characters and in love with the entire movie franchise, that is if it continues to be a franchise.
Warcraft is a movie based on a series of games created by Blizzard, Warcraft I through III followed by the infamous MMORPG World of Warcraft with all its expansions.
The movie starts off with the 'Orc' invasion of Azeroth under the leadership of Gul'dan. The movie failed here to explain the source of the Fel Magic that he possesses. Gul'dan along with another couple of characters are the main antagonists of the first movie. However, in comic book terms Gul'dan is the main villain of them all.
The Orcs originally came from Draenor, or in other words escaped it through a portal that lead them to Azeroth. At the time of their escape, Draenor has been brought to ruin by the Fel Magic and what is known as the Burning Legion. The burning legion who are led by the old god Sargeras are one of the biggest forces of evil in the Warcraft Universe, in fact the biggest antagonist in the game series is Sargeras who is yet to bee featured in the game as well. Until this moment in the Warcraft series of games we have only seen his lieutenants over so many games and so many expansions of the MMO. This villain's army is basically composed of demons and Fel Magic is their core weapon.
This is how our main antagonist got his powers, he is in league with the Burning Legion. This would also explain how Medivh, the guardian of Tirisfal Glades (Ben Foster) turned into a demon near the end of his battle with Khadgar and Anduin Lothar.
Other than this minor unexplained part I think the movie was done perfectly well in all other aspects. The effects were done so perfectly, the character portrayals was great and most characters had clear character developments and paths. The movie also showed us a clear image of each characters personalities, wishes and intentions.
I also found that small moment as the human army crossed the bridge over the river very interesting and nostalgic as they showed one of the creatures you encounter a lot throughout the game, a murloc.
The Orc characters of Durotan and Draka were very well portrayed. The trust that develops between Durotan and Khadgar was perfectly portrayed amidst shades of doubt. The characters of Anduin Lothar and Garona were portrayed exceptionally well by Travis Fimmel and Paula Patton. Ben Foster as well did a great job at showing us the great Medivh turned bad by Fel Magic.And of course we have to mention the friendship between Durotan and Orgrim who in the Warcraft role ends up being Thrall's (Durotan and Draka's baby) mentor.
The soundtrack was also exceptionally great. However, I especially loved how as the end credits rolled we were given a taste of the login screen of the World of Warcraft game, the original Vanilla login screen music.
Last but not least, the final scene of the movie with the humans finding baby Thrall floating in the river is indicative of what's to come as Thrall is raised by humans, imprisoned later on by them before he escapes and becomes down the road the greatest leader of the orcs and Warchief of the Horde.
Thank you for tuning in and as usual if you have any questions, leave a comment here or on Facebook or tweet to us.
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