Warcraft
Fantasy filmmaking on the big screen has always been a dicey proposition- for every “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter” that works, there’s a “Clash of the Titans” and “In the Name of the King” that doesn’t. If you delve into the realm of animation, the success rate is somewhat improved, as the filmmography of Ralph Bakshi (“Fire & Ice,” “Wizards”) and Robert Zemeckis’s “Beowulf” then come into play. Right now, the biggest name in fantasy is TV’s “Game of Thrones,” which has the novelistic storytelling of “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter” but the adult storylines and style Bakshi brought to the genre. Maybe it was an attempt at bringing some of that show’s fantastic goodwill on the part of Duncan Jones to his big screen adaptation of the “World of Warcraft” video game that led him to enlist composer Ramin Djawadi to write the score for his epic adventure. The results are not quite as memorable as “Thrones” in that respect, but they help Jones (a gifted filmmaker after “Moon” and “Source Code,” and son of the late David Bowie) create a bombastic and serious tone for a film that needs it to stay afloat.
Before I try to delve into the story, I must first acknowledge the remarkable detail and believability in the visual effects Jones has employed to tell this story. This is some of the best work Industrial Light & Magic has done in recent work, as you do not feel like you are watching visual effects when you look at the orcs or elves or a griffin flying through the air; these all feel like plausible characters in the world, and they are stunning to watch. The only thing I would say is that it feels like the orcs should be considerably larger in height than the humans in this world, and a lot of times they do, but in some shots, they feel almost on the same plane of sight in that regard. That’s a disparity that goes against the movie, but at the same time, I suppose it helps us feel like the human characters would have a legitimate chance against these powerful creatures in a battle.
Now, fans and players of the “World of Warcraft” game will probably be able to tell me better as to not only the backstory of this world, and how the screenplay by Jones and Charles Leavitt treat it in their adaptation. Personally, I felt there was much I still didn’t quite understand about this world and the dynamics between races by the end of it, but no doubt the filmmakers are betting on making this a franchise, because of course everything has to be one these days. That’s not a problem when you’re adapting books, but video games (or worse, an original story) are another matter, as I shouldn’t have to hope for one film to be successful so we can get another one to fill in any narrative payoffs left by the first one. That’s a frustrating thing happening all too often in major films now, and filmmakers are losing their ability to tell concise, engaging stories in a brisk, uncomplicated manner that leaves audiences entirely satisfied by the end. The film begins and ends with shots of orcs, and the chieftan of one of the tribes, Durotan (performed well by Toby Kebbell), is one of the most compelling characters in the film. He is a respected leader, whose wife, Draka (Anna Galvin), has just given birth to a son. The orcs are entering the world of Azeroth through a portal, as their world is no longer able to sustain them. Azeroth is the world of humans, though, and being humans, their first instinct is to think the orcs are here for war, and some of them are, like Gul’dan (Daniel Wu). Durotan wants peace to raise his son, and a coexistence with humanity is what drives him and others, like Garona (Paula Patton). With the orcs entering their realm, the king of Azeroth, Llane Wrynn (Dominic Cooper) needs his most trusted people by his side, like Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel) and Medivh (Ben Foster), a magic-weilding Guardian overlooking the land, although another magic-weilder, a mage named Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer), will have an important role to play, as well. How all of these characters fit into the larger narrative and their motivations, that’s a bit tricky to explain, but they all stand out in one way or another.
As a non-player of “WoW,” I don’t have much emotional investment in this film- my main hope was to get an enjoyable fantasy experience, and for the most part, I got it. Of the main characters, Durotan and Medivh were the most compelling to follow, as they had interesting, and complete, arcs throughout the film’s two hours. The film starts with the orcs, but shifts it’s focus to the humans, and that is one strike I have against it from a narrative standpoint. Durotan, his family, and his place among the orcs was more than enough to hang an entire film on, and so all of the focus on the humans distracted from what was, for me, the most interesting story in the film. Medivh is also an interesting character, but he’s very much a role player more than a lead, and that’s where his worth comes in play. The human characters have no real personalities besides Medivh, so having Lothar be the de facto hero of the film was disappointing. Jones is far too talented to be a hired hand on a film like this, although he reportedly changed a lot to try and bring a balance to the story. Unfortunately, one of the narratives in this film is not as interesting as the other, throwing the focus off in this film. The film teases continuations of this story, because of course it must. I would like to see that happen, but I also wish they had gotten this one right by telling a self-contained story that was worth my full attention.
