Lok’Tar Ogar! – Victory or Death!

Hi, my name is Manny (HI MANNY!), and I’m a Warcraft-oholic. I’ve been playing Warcraft since it came out in 1994, and then moved on to World of Warcraft in 2004. Now, I haven’t played the game for 12 years straight, as I’ll take breaks that run months at a time, but I always come back into the welcoming arms of my brothers and sisters in the Horde. I’ll be coming back soon now since the latest expansion is getting ready to drop in August.  Now that I’ve established my bona fides, let’s get into my review for Warcraft the movie.

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 families, their people, and their homes.  Director Duncan Jones, the man that brought us Moon and Source Code, was tapped by Blizzard Entertainment and Universal Pictures to bring Azeroth to life.

The cast of characters is excellent:

• Alduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel): the Lion of Azeroth, is a knight champion of the Kingdom of Azeroth. He is the military advisor to King Llane Wrynn of Stormwind and is is also the king’s brother-in-law.
• King Llane Wrynn (Dominic Cooper): True to his character, he questions other nobles’ assertions that the orcs are all beasts who should be destroyed and is shown to be sympathetic to them, as well as extending a hand to Garona as a bridge between the two races.
• Medivh (Ben Foster): Magus and last Guardian of Tirasfal, an ancient line of protectors bestowed with great powers to do battle with the agents of the Burning Legion. He is the magical advisor and friend to King Wynn. He also has a dark secret that is pivotal to the events of the movie.
• Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer): A gifted young mage embarking on a daring search for the truth during his apprenticeship with Medivh. He is the one that recognizes that evil fel magic has come to Azeroth.
• Lady Taria Wrynn (Ruth Negga): Queen-consort of Stormwind, King Llane’s wife, and most trusted counsel.
• Garona (Paula Patton): A strong-willed orc-draenei survivor caught between the Alliance and the Horde. Believing she is half-human and half-orc, she must decide where her true loyalty lies.
• Durotan (Tony Kebbell): The lead protagonist for the Horde. Durotan is the noble orc chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan, battling to save his exiled clan and the rest of the renegade orcs from the Shadow Council and the destruction of their world.
• Orgrimm Doomhammer (Robert Kazinsky): An extraordinarily cunning and tactically brilliant orc, and Durotan’s best friend.
• Draka (Anna Galvin): Durotan’s mate and the mother of his child
• Gul’dan (Daniel Wu): A sinister orc warlock. Wielding powerful fel magic and driven by his ravenous desire for power, he orchestrates the actions of the Horde from behind the scenes.
• Blackhand (Clancy Brown): The fearsome orc chieftain of the Blackrock clan and puppet of Gul’dan who rises to become the first Warchief of the Horde.

The actors and characters are only part of what it takes to bring a fantastic world like Azeroth to life – visuals and music also play a large part. As a long time player, it was a treat to not only see the wonderful vistas of Stormwind City, Ironforge, and Dalaran; but also to not need titles to see where we were going. The visuals were exactly what I expected to see if the game had the realistic high-res graphics of today’s games. I kept on punching my friend Bella on the shoulder (sorry girl!) as they showed one familiar location after another—I almost lost it when they showed a ubiquitous murloc chilling in a creek by Goldshire. The wonderful score from composer Ramin Djawadi rounded out the immersion into Azeroth.

Going back to the CGI used throughout the movie; it wasn’t the distraction I thought it was going to be. All of the orc characters, except for Garona, were mo-capped and computer generated. When they share the screen with the human characters, there’s a seamless and organic blending of the two, which means that you’re not pulled out of the moment. The only semi-gripe that I had was with Garona. Wanting to emphasize the fact that she was half-orc/half-drenai, her look is the most human of the orcs. They simply painted her green (or a brownish green, depending on the scene), gave her a mouth piece with slightly exaggerated tusks, and some interesting runic scars over her body.

If you’re familiar with the lore of the game, you can’t help but know what’s going to happen—yet this didn’t ruin the overall experience and enjoyment of the movie for me. There were minor changes made, specifically with them trying to force a relationship between Lothar and Garona, but it worked for the narrative. The movie is a complete story unto itself, but it is also a setup for future Warcraft movies.  One isn’t left disappointed when the credits roll, and I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that it makes enough money for the story to continue.

I give this movie 4.5 out of 5 Dark Portals.

FOR THE HORDE!