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. So begins a spectacular saga of power and
sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something. 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. So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in
which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.
Legendary Pictures' WARCRAFT, a 3D epic adventure of world-colliding conflict based upon Blizzard Entertainment's globally-renowned universe, is directed by Duncan Jones and is written by Charles Leavitt and rewritten by Duncan Jones. The producers are Charles Roven, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and Alex Gartner. Stuart Fenegan, Jillian Share and Brent O'Connor serve as executive producers. Blizzard's Chris Metzen co-produces.
The film is based on Blizzard Entertainment’s global phenomenon of the same name, a world of conflict where orcs and humans are at odds with one another, intent on colonizing each other’s neighbouring worlds, which are connected through a mysterious portal. Wacraft largely takes place on the human realm of Azeroth.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been a fan as long as there have been video games, and I remain a devoted fan of gaming in general even if I don’t always love the culture around it. What I find strange is how completely and utterly I have somehow avoided World Of Warcraft.
The epic battle at the center of “Warcraft” isn’t the clash between humans and orcs. That’s just what takes up roughly two hours of screen time. The true conflict comes from filmmakers trying to tell a story with soul and struggling against the inherent ridiculousness of the commodity they’re working with. It shouldn’t take a mage to foresee that this pricey and preposterous adaptation of an online gaming phenomenon was preordained for artistic mediocrity.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven’t already invested in the self-serious mythology, it can feel borderline camp, if not downright dull. But the movie is character-driven every step of the way. That’s why, even if the world created by Jones and his talented design collaborators, both old-school physical and cutting-edge digital, isn’t seamlessly believable so much as staggeringly crafted, it casts a spell.
ReplyDeleteSome shock deaths show narrative daring, but it’s hard to get that involved when the two-hour run-time is too crammed to let in emotional air. Lacking the longer-form luxuries of Game of Thrones, Warcraft occasionally manages to feel both rushed and dull, impressively staged and disengaged.
ReplyDeleteI think that prime directive of this film should have been to get people to love the characters and the world. It's not simply telling a story. I personally feel that Blizzard was breathing down the director's neck to check items off a checklist to the detriment of the freedom a director needs in crafting memorable characters with souls.