• Home
  • Movie News
  • Movie Trailers
  • Reviews
    • Cinema Reviews
    • Home Entertainment Reviews
      • Blu-ray Review
      • DVD Review
  • Competitions
  • Features
    • Interview

Movie Muser

Have your say about cinema

Warcraft: The Beginning (Blu-ray Review)

10th October 2016 By Tim Isaac

warcraft-slideStarring: Travis Fimmel, Paul Patton, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Ben Foster
Directed By: Duncan Jones
Running Time: 122 mins
BBFC Certificate: 12
UK Release Date: October 10th 2016 (UK)

Our Score

In the last few years, Hollywood has become increasingly obsessed with the fast-growing Chinese market. Warcraft: The Beginning is ample evidence as to why that is. The movie was a massive flop in the US, grossing less than $50 million there on a $160 million budget. However, it made over $220 million in China, meaning that instead of being one of the biggest box office disasters ever, they’re now thinking of making a sequel.

The disparity between the US and China reception of this movie is a bit difficult to explain. While American audiences certainly had a lot of choice this summer, it’s a surprise a few more didn’t choose this film, as it’s quite fun.

Based on the video games, the movie opens in the world of the Orcs, which is dying. Their warlock, Gul’dan (Daniel Wu), opens a portal to the planet of Azeroth, where he intends to take the Orcs and where he know he can find a new source for the Fel, an evil magic that feeds off life itself.

On Azeroth, the humans begin to realise a new enemy has arrived, and it’s one that could be an enormous threat. There are also Orcs who are beginning to wonder whether what they’re doing is right, with Durotan (Toby Kebbell) leading the voices suggesting that perhaps Gul’dan and the Fel merely bring death and destruction. Those on both sides, including the human military leader Lothar (Travis Fimmel), may be going into war, but they become increasingly aware that the Fel may be the greatest threat to all of them.

The Warcraft games and associated books and merchandise etc. is by some measures the biggest entertainment property ever, bringing in billions of dollars over more than 20 years. The filmmakers are well aware of that, as well as that it has millions of devoted fans who adore both the Alliance and the Horde, and who wouldn’t accept anything that didn’t feel truth to the world of Azeroth. However, they’re also aware that there are many more out there who know nothing of it, and so the movie has to conduct a careful balancing act, explaining the fantasy realm to newbies, without boring those who already know.

There are times when it doesn’t do that too well, either getting a little dull by spending ages explaining things with people standing around talking, or being a little confusing when things happen but non-Warcraft fans won’t know why. However, that’s not too surprising, as it’s a complex world that’s grown ever deeper over the last couple of decades.

Luckily it’s anchored by a decent story, made more interesting by the fact it ensures there are heroes on both sides of the war. Indeed, it opens with narration from the Orc’s perspective, talking in a way where you’re almost being prepared for humans to be the bad guys. It turns out to be more complex than that, and that while the two sides will remain enemies, they’re not as different as they might first appear, and they’re all just trying to do the right thing.

All that’s backed up by plenty of action, and lots of special effects. The latter are particularly impressive, particularly the creation of the CGI orcs, which often look and feel completely real. That’s helped both by the likes of Industrial Light & Magic, and the talents of the actors in motion capture suits.

It’s not a masterpiece. At times it’s a little too uneven and po-faced for its own good and the script tends towards cliché – indeed, it’s difficult not to feel the filmmakers spent so much time on complex and impressive world-building, that the dialogue rather suffered. That said, it’s also entertaining and particularly in the second half, a lot of fun to watch. It’s no Lord Of The Rings, which it does sometimes seem to be striving to be, but it’s certainly not bad. What it also does a great job of is setting things up so it’d be interesting to see what comes next – and thanks to China, we may well now get to see what that is.

The film looks great on Blu-ray, and there’s also a decent selection of special features, including a lengthy prequel motion-comic, which helps adds context to some of the things that happen in the movie. There are also some decent ‘making of…’ featurettes, which are well worth a look.

Overall Verdict: It may be uneven and at times a little messy, but Warcraft: The Beginning is also an entertaining movie, filled with impressive special effects and a beautifully built world.

Reviewer: Tim Isaac

Special Features:
‘WARCRAFT: Bonds of Brotherhood’ Motion Comic
‘The World of Warcraft on Film’ Featurette
‘The World of Talent’ Featurette
‘The World of VFX: The WARCRAFT universe wouldn’t exist without the tireless efforts of the VFX crew. Follow along with the filmmakers as they tell the story of how WARCRAFT came to life through VFX.
‘Outfitting a World’ Featurette
‘The World of MOCAP’ Featurette
‘The World of Stunts’ Featurette
‘Madame Tussauds’ Featurette
WARCRAFT Teaser
Deleted Scenes
Gag Reel
Origin Story
‘The Fandom of WARCRAFT’ Featurette
‘ILM: Behind the Magic of WARCRAFT’ Featurette

Warcraft: The Beginning (Blu-ray Review) reviewed by Tim Isaac on 10th October 2016 rated 3.0 of 5

Related

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Travis Fimmel, Paul Patton, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Ben Foster  DIRECTORS: Duncan Jones  FILMS: Warcraft: The Beginning  

Filed Under: Blu-ray Review

Search this site…

Get Social

RSSTwitterFacebook

Get new posts by e-mail

Get the latest in our daily e-mail

Latest Cinema & Home Ent. Reviews

Mortal Engines (Cinema Review)

Anna and the Apocalypse (Cinema Review)

Suspiria (Cinema Review)

Overlord (Cinema Review)

King of Thieves (Cinema Review)

Isle of Dogs (DVD Review)

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Cinema Review)

Tomb Raider (Blu-ray Review)

The Bridge 4 (DVD Review)

My Friend Dahmer (Cinema Review)

Latest News & Trailers

Detective Pikachu Trailer – Pokemon is going live action with Ryan Reynolds

Toy Story 4 Teaser Trailer – Woody & the gang are coming back once more

Aladdin Teaser Trailer – Guy Ritchie directs Disney’s latest live-action adaptation

New Glass Trailer – The worlds of Unbreakable and Split meet

Aquaman Extended Trailer – Jason Momoa goes to war under the seas against Patrick Wilson

New Overlord Trailer – Soldiers take on Nazi-created zombies in the JJ Abrams produced movie

The Mule Trailer – Clint Eastwood is an octogenarian drug runner opposite Bradley Cooper

Vice Trailer – Christian Bale transforms into former Vice President Dick Cheney

Mary Queen of Scots Trailer – Saoirse Ronan & Margot Robbie get Elizabethan

New Mortal Engines Trailer – London is literally on the move in the steampunk fantasy

Handpicked MediaHandpicked MediaCopyright © 2025 Muser Media · Powered by WordPress & Genesis Framework · Log in
Movie Muser is a member of The Handpicked Media network

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.