Warcraft Movie Review Roundup
Warcraft comes out on June 10.
Ahead of the film's release this week, reviews for Legendary's upcoming Warcraft movie have shown up online--and not everyone enjoyed it.
We've collected excerpts from some of the reviews here and will continue to update this post as new ones come online.
Warcraft was directed by Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code), who previously said he has plans for two further films. When the movie comes out in the US, we'll have a better idea of if the critical reviews have any impact on box office performance.
The film stars Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Robert Kazinsky, and Toby Kebbell. It hits theaters on June 10.
Head to GameSpot sister site Metacritic for a further breakdown of Warcraft's critical reception.
It's not the first video game movie this year and it won't be the last. Animated movies based on Ratchet & Clank and Angry Birds came out earlier this year, while Assassin's Creed opens in December.
- Film: Warcraft
- Distributor: Universal
- Release Date: June 10
- Rating: PG-13
GameSpot
"Warcraft is crafted for the enjoyment of its video game fans. The Warcraft universe serves as more than just tacked-on references in this fantasy film, it is the heart of its story, characters, and cinematic style. It is unfortunate that despite its faithful recreation of the game, several solid weaknesses prevent it from being a well-rounded film. Still, there are plenty of moments for Warcraft fans to geek out over. And if the ending is anything to go by, there may be many more of these to come, for better or worse." -- Zorine Te [Full review]
CNET
"Warcraft lacks that special something. The lore from the franchise is so rich, brought to life in the games by such fine narrative detailing, that it's impossible to look at the film as anything other than a letdown." -- Aloysius Low [Full review]
Kotaku
"Rather than tapping into the goofy core that makes a game like World of Warcraft interesting, the Warcraft movie aims for grittiness, missing the mark quite a bit. It just doesn't work. The lore is too campy. This is a world where a mage's most popular spell transforms his enemies into sheep, yet Warcraft acts as if it's a green-screen version of Game of Thrones. At my theater, the biggest laughs came not from the occasional bouts of slapstick comedy but from the miserable archmages of Dalaran, whose CGI-enhanced eyes look especially absurd when you're supposed to take them seriously." -- Jason Schreier [Full review]
The Wrap
"Critics throw the term 'soulless corporate filmmaking' around with abandon, but movies like Warcraft really manage to redefine the term. A film adaptation of the hugely popular MMORPG (that’s Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) World of Warcraft, this latest video game adaptation ranks near the bottom of the deadly genre. Imagine Battlefield Earth without the verve, or the unintentional comedy, and you've got Warcraft." -- Alonso Duralde [Full review]
Variety
"Hollywood's habit of turning hit video games into unwatchable movies continues unabated. 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." -- Geoff Berkshire [Full review]
The Hollywood Reporter
"If you haven’t already invested in the self-serious mythology, it can feel borderline camp, if not downright dull--or both, as when an uncredited Glenn Close intones platitudes from on high about darkness and light. Yet there’s no question that it’s a breakthrough in both storytelling and artistry for features based on video games. And compared with another medieval-ish tale, the soporific Hobbit trilogy, this international production is a fleet and nimble ride, likely to conquer overseas box offices and make a solid stand stateside." -- Sheri Linden [Full review]
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