[yasr_overall_rating]
The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people, and their home.
Immersion is important for any story to thrive. If you can bring the audience into the world you want them in, actually plant them there where they duck and dodge in front of the screen in their comfortable padded seats, you have won. That is what “Warcraft” did in an amazing way and in 3D nonetheless. Imagine scenes of war, mud splashing into in your face, distorting your view, orc blood spewing over the warrior beside you. Your captain’s body goes flying after a strike from a war hammer and you are close enough to the opposition to smell their stench. This sense of inclusion lasted throughout the movie as we were brought into the story of Durotan (Toby Kebbell) and other Orcs attempting to run from their already destroyed world into Azeroth, the realm ruled by King Wrynn (Dominic Cooper) and kept safe by Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel) and his army of devout soldiers, along with the help of Medivh, the last guardian of Tirisfal.
The advancing warparty of orcs are led by a devilish orc Shaman by the name of Gul’Dan (Daniel Wu) who opens a portal into Azeroth in order to capture the human’s needed to let the rest of the horde through. The only bad thing about the movie is the amount of characters in which were introduced and given heavy leads. Those listed above are but a fraction of the main group of characters within the film but amoungst the enormity of success this movie will see, that slight hiccup will sleep in the shadows. You do not have to worry, if you have never played ‘World of Warcraft’ you will not miss out on a single thing as this is an entryway into the universe, one that is done very, very well. As mentioned above, the sense of inclusion you get is, in itself, reason to watch the film but that is supported by a very well thought out story line that allows just the right amount of loose ends in order for there to be room to grow.
This film was definitely heavy handed with the CGI and that coupled with it being shown in 3D scared me at first but within 5 minutes of the opening scene I had come to terms with the fact that this film was not going to overuse the effect that had caused other films to topple and the CGI was expertly done. The acting was wonderful and the script was tight and didn’t doddle. The scenes were fleshed out to the point that it was grandiose yet they were concise, giving you all the information you needed to progress through the story. The film’s run time is two hours and three minutes long but it felt like a blink of an eye as the credits rolled. Again, this was all due to the immersion of the story, the brutal scenes of war and the crisp linear path this film sets you on. I walked in with no expectations and no idea what “Warcraft” was but now I stand with the rest in the fight to keep Azeroth safe.
In theaters June 10th
