Why Warcraft Was Actually a Decent Fantasy Movie

Of course the critics weren’t going to like it. A movie based off of a 20 year old videogame franchise. Plus the movie was in development for 10 years. Heck Sam Rami was even attached to direct it forever. There was no way this movie was about to be seen well in the public eye. Well, the good news is that you can still totally enjoy this movie on many fronts.

First, there is some amazing CGI in this movie. If you are hoping to see the latest in what the CGI wizards can do, look no further. There is really some amazing stuff in here. I am not claiming it is all perfect, but believe me, there is some state of the art animation happening here that will cause you to wonder if it is animated or real.

Second, the movie does not play it safe. It is trying to be a hardcore fantasy movie for hardcore gamers. Within the first 15 minutes of the movie, you will be blown away by the amount of names and locations from the game that go by. Unfortunately, this will turn off non-gamers that thought they were coming to watch Willow or the Hobbit. But for gamers, they just might be thrilled at someone taking their world seriously!

Third, there is no such thing as one dimensional characters in this fantasy movie. Really, we do not have any characters without a sensible motivation for what they are doing. No character is all good or all bad. For a cast of hundreds, that is quite unique and to be applauded.

Finally, the movie doesn’t just have a happily ever ending (no spoilers). The director could have easily made this a happily ever after fairy tale, but instead tried to go more artistic by being more realistic. Thus, we get an ending that is just not typical Hollywood blockbuster fair. And that is pretty much true for the whole movie. It is not a bad movie. There are some great action scenes and set pieces that are just incredibly animated. The problem is that it is by no means typical. This will turn off so many mainstream moviegoers as a result. But, I for one, hope we can get more filmmakers willing to explore unique ways of telling a story on a blockbuster budget and scale even if it means that it blunders here and there in the process. It still just makes for a much more interesting movie-going experience!