Duncan Jones' Warcraft - Part 3

[BlackFox]

Saw this today, thought it was ok but not really a game changer or anything, the whole thing just feels a little low key and mundane. The Orcs are done well and the CGi is pretty solid throughout the human characters are a little flat however and the world doesnt feel fleshed out or tangible in anyway. The fight scenes were decent enough but after a while tend to feel a little samey and I'm sure Blizzard have done better cut scenes of battles in the past, these all feel like stuff we've seen before. Its overall just missing that "wow" factor (pun intended??)

Pros
Orcs story and characters were quite interesting
CGi was pretty solid throughout
Story is fairly simple and easy to follow for non WoW players
More effort than most video game movies at least to make things work like a proper film

Cons
Human characters weak and unconvincing
Some more explanation to those of us not in the know would have helped on some bits
Lack of much "fun"
Plot twists are fairly signposted and predictable
Pacing issues at times makes it feel long and dull in places

As I said before I am coming at this purely from a non-wow player perspective but my friends who were ardent WOW players flat out hated it and said it changed way, way too much from the source material to take it seriously. Thats their view though and I guess they would know better than me on that.

6.1/10

 

[Punisher_MAX]

Yea, I watched all those OverWatch cinematics recently, which are fantastic, and they just should make their own full lenght animated movie.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAYFVhxsaqDuOh4Ic5mRu5CiZVKCMVv66

Or look at Legion trailer, it looks great, too. https://youtu.be/eYNCCu0y-Is
And the over-the-top WoW armor looks just perfect on the CGI charaters.

But nothing beats well made film with live actors. And Durotan CGI looks wonderful, cannot wait to see that on the big screen.

While a live action movie is great, I always felt that the cinematics were always so damn impressive looking that they deserve to be a full length film. Every time I see a Blizzard cinematic with my brother we're always blown away and wonder why they dont just make a full CG movie. Everything would translate better on screen.

 

[Zantera]

Personally I don't get the "lack of fun" argument, there were some great scenes between Khadgar and Lothar, hell, anything with Khadgar. Thought he was a nice comic relief character who had a sense of humour without being too silly. The movie was neither dark or overly light, I feel like it struck that balance of "just enough comedy" that most summer blockbusters seem to do.

In an interview Duncan said that there was roughly 40 minutes trimmed down. I hope we do get an extended version at some point. Not that it might improve the movie, but if anything else, just to get more content, because I did like the movie and most of my problems came down to some points like characters not getting enough time, problems that may be non-existent in a longer cut.

Still think the movie was a bout a 7.5 out of 10. I tend to be forgiving but I don't expect my summer blockbusters to be "movie of the year" material, I just expect good fun at the theatre, and there's obviously some movies that do it better than others.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Pretty sure PR2 was green lit with Steven DeKnight directing? I think the main reason it took so long was because Del Toro is known for wanting more money for his sequels, so I bet when he asked for 300 million to make PR2, the other guys were like "nope", and eventually they found someone else who could do it on their budget.

Yeah, no. That doesn't even sound remotely possible.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

21 Reviews

4 Fresh

17 Rotten

19%

4.0 Average

 

[OutOfBoose]

They aren't wrong.

 

[DarthDorranceBane]

I am entertained by this, so I am wondering what do most critics find wrong with the movie?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I am entertained by this, so I am wondering what do most critics find wrong with the movie?

I'd suggest reading the reviews then.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/warcraft/

 

[OutOfBoose]

I am entertained by this, so I am wondering what do most critics find wrong with the movie?

Reviews are up there for everyone to read.

UPD. Oops, you were first, DarthSkywalker.

 

[DarthDorranceBane]

Is this even a review?

"Imagine a film in which most of the antagonists wear buckets on their heads and you're halfway there."

I think most of the reviews there are way off-base.

Breakneck pace? What do they want, BvS-like pace?

Incomprehensible? We are like already years (or is it decades) into a blockbuster cinema (and even TV!) full of fantastical words with their own lingos and that is still a problem?

 

[Sithborg]

Deja Vu. For like, the third time this year.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Deja Vu. For like, the third time this year.

BvS, X-Men: Apocalypse and now Warcraft. The same yawn inducing, whining about critics.

 

[Sithborg]

The CW ones were entertaining, though.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

The CW ones were entertaining, though.

I did not check the Civil War Rotten Tomatoes threads.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

The critic thing has gotten hilarious. The preemptive complaints are the best though. People say they don't care about critics, as they complain about critics, showing they clearly care.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Is this even a review?

"Imagine a film in which most of the antagonists wear buckets on their heads and you're halfway there."

I think most of the reviews there are way off-base.

Breakneck pace? What do they want, BvS-like pace?

Incomprehensible? We are like already years (or is it decades) into a blockbuster cinema (and even TV!) full of fantastical words with their own lingos and that is still a problem?

1. Is there are only two ways to pace a film?

2. It is the job of the filmmaker to make people care about their fantastical words and to help them understand them. The LotR and Harry Potter were not that long ago. They showed it can easily be done.

 

[redhawk23]

Pretty sure PR2 was green lit with Steven DeKnight directing? I think the main reason it took so long was because Del Toro is known for wanting more money for his sequels, so I bet when he asked for 300 million to make PR2, the other guys were like "nope", and eventually they found someone else who could do it on their budget.

Basically what happened is that when Pacific Rim 2 was originally set up with an April 2017 release date (lol) Legendary was just starting out on a new partnership with Universal. That partnership fell apart almost immediately because Legendary brought with it some pre-existing films like the 7th Son that completely flopped underneath its newly minted Universal banner. Universal started pulling their money from everything and Pacific Rim was effectively cancelled. It got a reprieve when Legendary's situation changed with various buyouts.

Also, I never really expected that Guillermo del Toro would be directing a Pacific Rim sequel. He never intended to direct the first. The first film was a project that he sheparded with the full intent to hand off to another filmmaker. It was only when At the Mountains of Madness fell apart while he was out location shooting that Thomas Tull got him on the phone and convinced him to commit to making it himself. As Del Toro described it, after the Hobbit fiasco and then having the rug pulled out from him by Universal on Mountains, he was pretty desperate to make a movie and had one ready to go.

Also I don't really know how Del Toro can be known for asking for more money for sequels when he's basically only made a sequel to just 1 of his own films. Not really a pattern there. Hellboy 2 got more money from a larger studio after the first film did exceptionally well on home video.

But hey anyways this is the Warcraft thread.

All of this Pacific Rim context does shed a lot of light onto Tull and Legendary. Legendary has had a lot of struggling projects. Thomas Tull throws his weight behind a lot of projects that other studios won't touch with a 10 foot pole or any kind of a budget. I wish a lot of these movies ended up being better and that the good ones performed better.

 

[redhawk23]

I don't know if Lord the Rings showed that anything could be "easily" done. Those films are notable specifically because what they did was difficult and rarely seen.

 

[Greens]

The critic thing has gotten hilarious. The preemptive complaints are the best though. People say they don't care about critics, as they complain about critics, showing they clearly care.

Yup. It's possible to disagree with critics without completely dismissing them.

 

[Logan0327]

I don't know if Lord the Rings showed that anything could be "easily" done. Those films are notable specifically because what they did was difficult and rarely scene.

i swear people act like making a great film is so damn easy and act like why cant everybody do it lol

 

[redhawk23]

i swear people act like making a great film is so damn easy and act like why cant everybody do it lol

To be fair, if you're some one who is being handed over 100 million dollars to do something, then you should be held accountable when you don't do it well.

 

[Zantera]

Personally it doesn't bother me that much if critics disagree, because 1. I don't need my own opinion validated by others and 2. it's just opinions anyway, and they aren't more right or wrong than I am since it's all subjective, but what bothers me is when I read reviews and the critics just seem completely gone. I've read some legit reviews for Warcraft where they voice their concerns and what they didn't like, but then there are other reviews where you just wonder if they even gave it a chance or if they were talking to a friend through the whole movie.

I believe the guy from The Wrap who reviewed it also gave Dragonball Evolution 4/5, something that is completely baffling, but hey opinions right.

 

[Rowsdower!]

The critic thing has gotten hilarious. The preemptive complaints are the best though. People say they don't care about critics, as they complain about critics, showing they clearly care.

Yeah, seriously. You know all those same people would be praising critics from the rooftops if this film had a 93% rating on RT. And rest assured, they'd be arrogant about it, saying things like, "Well, it looks like the stupid haters didn't know anything, because critics LOVED it!"

 

[OutOfBoose]

1. Is there are only two ways to pace a film?

2. It is the job of the filmmaker to make people care about their fantastical words and to help them understand them. The LotR and Harry Potter were not that long ago. They showed it can easily be done.

Easy AF. Actually, it's quite opposite. There's nothing easy about making a great fantasy film/series. Requires insane amount of talent, work and luck. That's why truly great fantasy films can be counted by fingers on one hand.

 

[The Big G]

IGN's review is out...they gave it a 7/10