VGFlicks: Warcraft (Part 1)

Contrary to impressions I could have given, I was never actually big on fantasy epics. I don’t know why. I feel it may be that I prefer stories that remain grounded into some level of reality. I was never big on The Lord of the Rings, but  Harry Potter, trying to ground itself into a semi-real Britain despite the fantastical elements of the setting, worked better for me. It’s the same for science-fiction; I’m always more interested in sci-fi that keeps a foot into the world I know, to some degree. (Although, sci-fi stories that stray from that mold do tend to interest me more than fantasy going the same route.)

Hence why I was reticent in reviewing Warcraft, which I had heard of before. Based on the series of the same name by Blizzard Entertainment and directed by Duncan Jones, this is currently the highest-grossing video game film adaptation of all time. I saw moments, but never before sat down to watch it in its entirety; I will be seeing it for the first time for this review. I must’ve bought the film on DVD, like, 4 years ago if not 5, and only took it out of the plastic packaging this month.

Also of note is that this film, released to North American theaters on June 10th, 2016, is not an adaptation of World of Warcraft, even if that is the most famous title of the franchise as well as the biggest MMORPG of all time. The film aims lower by adapting the very first game in the series, Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, released in 1994. As a result, it tries to pull quadruple duty. First, it adapts the game's story. Second, however, is that it does so while integrating lore and elements from later games, which expand the tale and add relevant details. Third, however, is that there is an attempt to not overload viewers with lore, despite so much of it being necessary. Fourth, finally, is to still be approachable to whomever isn’t familiar with the series (like me!).

Obviously, I’m gonna do my best to move past my own bias. Let’s at least see whether the film manages to accomplish these four goals.

The Fel

The movie opens on a fight scene between a human knight and an orc, long after the events of the movie – already spoiling that the next two hours won’t have a happy denouement. Mention is made of “the Fel”. Soon the orc, a green-skinned brute with spiky armor, makes swift work of the knight. Skull axe to the head, works like a charm.

Even for races that live for war. family is sacred.
Dom from The Fast and teh Furious would be proud.

The hair on his skin, the wrinkles in his face,
the lighting, every spot of age... Impressive.

Cut back to where it all began, and we meet some of our protagonists: Durotan (portrayed by Toby Kebbell), chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan, and his pregnant wife Draka (Anna Galvin). Being a fantasy epic, we’ll be following several characters on both sides of the conflict. Whereas the humans and human-like creatures (such as elves) are portrayed in live-action, most non-human races (mainly orcs and dwarves) are portrayed through mo-cap CGI. I have to admit, the orcs look quite impressive in terms of sheer detail. It took me a second to realize the first ones we see aren’t, in fact, actors underneath heavy prosthetics with visual effects on to make it look more seamless. Then again, I can’t imagine live actors having to shoot scenes with those protruding upwards fangs. It’d be pretty unpleasant. In the morning, Durotan will leave, and may not be able to see his child’s birth – so the two plan to sneak Draka among the warriors.

Gul'Dan couldn't look more like a bad guy, and Garona
couldn't look more like someone who would, without any
hesitation, switch to the other side given the chance.

In the next shot we see multiple orc clans, mainly composed of similarly brown-skinned orcs, though we see more and more in green. A few are notable: One is a bearded, hooded warlock named Gul’dan (Daniel Wu). The other is… well, there goes my gag from 30 seconds ago. That’s a live-action woman playing an orc, with prosthetic fangs (and the resulting speech impediment) and all. Her name is Garona (portrayed by Paula Patton), and she’s an orc-human half-breed, thus treated more like a slave of the orc race than one of theirs.

Gul’dan is the reason the orcs have reunited: Their world, Draenor, is dying, so the warlock wants to open a portal into a new world to settle into. The warlock uses the Fel, a green-tinted form of dark magic that is obtained by draining the life force of others. His plan thus involves sending a warband through, and use that army to round up new victims on the other side, as fuel to open the portal for the remainder of the Horde.

The portal is opened with the life force of Draenei captives, and the warriors run through. Durotan goes in before his wife, who follows, but she feels intense pain during the trip across the magical gate. Having come through as well, Gul’dan helps the orc woman give birth to an asphyxiated baby. Using the Fel, the warlock saps the energy of a fawn to revive the child, whose skin takes a notable green tint as he’s brought back to life. Behind the warriors, the portal closes.

And that is how the invasion began: With a birth.

Let’s see what the humans are up to…

Two of our main characters, they just met and
they're already fighting. That's a good look!

Ironforge, the capital of dwarves. We meet our second protagonist, Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel), military commander of Stormwind Kingdom, as he is presented with a new dwarven weapon, a firearm. The Army of Darkness nod being too good to pass, they call it a boomstick. Lothar receives a letter about his garrison being under attack, and thus has to hurry home. The garrison was killed by mysterious creatures, and guards captured a mage who was searching the bodies in the barracks. The commander interrogates the apprentice mage, known as Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer), who explains that he was examining the bodies to figure out the source of the attack. While investigating the body after getting permission, the wizard sees a green mist escape it. He immediately asks for the guardian of Azeroth to come and see this. Instead, Lothar takes him to see King Llane Wrynn (Dominic Cooper) in Goldshire.

The best king, the best mage, and the best
commander.

There, Khadgar reveals himself to be a Guardian novitiate from Kirin Tor who defected to investigate the arrival of the Fel. Since this is worrisome news, Lothar and Khadgar are allowed by the King to head to the magical tower of Karazhan, where the Guardian Medivh (Ben Foster) lives, flying on a gryphon’s back. Damn, that’s the coolest means of transportation. Try to beat that, eagles of Lord of the Rings!

Oh, Lothar (on the right)... That's the faceof someone who
doesn't like teleportation.

The two land by the tower and are brought in by Moroes, the Guardian’s servant. Khadgar stays in the library while Lothar speaks to his old friend, whom he meets in the middle of sculpting a golem. Medivh is quick to ask about Khadgar, and comes quickly to (magical) blows with the mage, thinking he’s trying to usurp his position, until Khadgar asks the Guardian to explain the Fel. Medivh quickly explains it for Lothar, then teleports the three of them to Stormwind. After a brief discussion on the mysterious enemy, King Llane sends a garrison down a path taken by the “monsters”. Medivh and Khadgar tag along. The group also includes Lothar’s son Callan, a great knight and brilliant strategist for his age. That kid's gonna go far.

I imagine Durotan going, "blue magic that is't powered by
killing? What is this thing??"

This battle was like a TTRPG fight. The soldiers were good,
but not good enough against powerful opponents. Yet again,
it's the wizards who deal the most damage.
Either that or Medivh had secret aces in his robe's sleeves.

Meanwhile, the orcs have begun sacking villages and kidnapping people for Gul’dan’s grand plan. The warlock’s second-in-command, Blackhand (Clancy Brown), admonishes Durotan and the Frostwolves for not taking part against unarmed villagers. Orcs later attack the knights in the forest. The human knights are overpowered by the orcs, but Lothar figures out that they’re more brawns than brains and tells his son to be smart against them. Khadgar is attacked by Durotan but protects himself with a magical shield before asking for Medivh’s help. Meanwhile, Lothar is about to get killed by Blackhand but uses the dwarven boomstick to blast the orc’s left hand off. What seals the deal for the orcs is a spell cast by Medivh that targets and kills only the Fel-powered green orcs in the group. Durotan, Blackhand and a third brown orc are unscathed and flee on giant wolves. Damn, that’s almost as cool as a gryphon! Khadgar asks what that spell was about, and Medivh teleports away instead of explaining how he did this.

It’s fishy.

The film does some interesting things. It’s implied that neither group actually speaks English, but the film switches to English for the side in focus. If orcs speak English, it’s the humans who speak an unknown tongue, and vice versa. It’s done to great effect. Second, there are a lot of names of characters and places to keep track of, but it’s not insurmountable. It’s still a lot of information in a short span of time (I’m not even 30 minutes in), but the plot is set and we have seen every major player and the stakes. So far, this is a very competently-made movie.

Unlikely alliances

For now they treat her like an orc. Since she speaks their
language, soon they'll have the decency to treat her like
a human.

As he flees, Durotan sees Garona still chained to one of the dead orcs, and breaks her chain. Lothar and two knights chase the fleeing orcs, only capturing the nameless one. Garona also tried to run away, but Khadgar captures her with magic. The garrison returns with two orcs, but upon Garona revealing she can speak the human language, the other orc goes berserk and is killed. At Stormwind, she is forced to explain the reason of the orcs’ presence; a takeover. She also says she has learned to speak the language from the orcs’ prisoners who’ll be used for the gate to bring the Horde in Azeroth. She is offered by King Llane her freedom, in exchange for showing where the orcs are staying. Even later, as she’s kept in a cage, the King’s wife (who is also Lothar’s sister) comes with gifts, further pleading for help from the half-breed.

"We've just arrived and the place is already a mess."

In the meantime, on the orcs’ side, Blackhand is facing punishment for failing in the earlier battle, and has to burn the remnants of his destroyed hand; but Durotan stops that by stating that the humans’ warlock used the Fel as well, which Gul’dan doesn’t believe. The chieftain later looks over the orc encampment with his second-in-command Orgrim (Robert Kazinsky), commenting on how the land seems to die no matter where they go under Gul’Dan’s magic, and that they need to stop the Fel any way possible. Although the orcs alone can't stop the warlock, an alliance with the humans might.

The many mythology gags and other game-accurate
elements are very much welcome and further prove that
extensive research was done to faithfully represent this
world on the big screen. Seen here: A map of Azeroth,
a quick shot of a ceiling in Stormwind Castle.

Y’know, for as little interest as I had in this movie at first, I’m starting to feel kinda invested! Not saying it’s high art, and perhaps watching it numerous times with additional information in the background to write this review is changing my judgment a little, but I understand the stakes and the sides. The film is cramming a lot of info in its runtime, though, that much is true; and that I have to rely on outside sources to better know the greater plot says a fair bit. Stuck between telling too little and telling too much, the film tries to tell more (but not overwhelmingly so), at the risk of losing viewers from the flood of info, but it’s generally nothing seeing the film more than once can’t solve. Good on the filmmakers to incorporate the changes made across the entire Warcraft franchise to that first story. I also appreciate some of the changes made to the source material; in the original Warcraft: Humans and Orcs, Durotan is a minor character while Orgrim is the playable character on the orcs’ story. The switch in POV means the film doesn't feel forced to follow the protagonist's actions to the letter, and the selected character to be the "good guy orc" makes sense as well.

Again, the special effects are top-notch. The interactions
between CGI and live-action characters, for one; you can
really believe Durotan is holding Khadgar hostage in his
big hand.

Garona eventually agrees to lead the humans to the orc encampment. During the trip one night, the half-orc explains that orcs killed her mother due to her birth. Khadgar opens up about his parents gave him away to the Kirin Tor, the wizard council of Dalaran, for the kid to learn magic and for the family to bask in the resulting honor, which he got none of. The apprentice deserting his training didn’t help matters. At the end of the journey, the humans find the orc encampment and Garona explains about the portal gate they're building; however they are ambushed by Durotan, who tells Garona that he wants to arrange a meeting with the humans’ chieftain (well, King) to discuss.

Humans, elves, wizards and dwarves. Guess which of the
four are the only CGI creatures at the table?

The commander and the King expose this during a meeting with the other factions around Stormwind, but fail to get any approval or help in spite of the growing menace. However, while very suspicious of the offer made by Durotan (and, let’s be fair, the humans have very good reasons to be suspicious), the King is not closed to the suggestion. On her insistence that orcs work with a system of honor and that Durotan is honorable, the half-orc is asked to prove it by gaining the humans’ trust, and she is even given a dagger by Taria, the Queen.

Gee, good thing Khadgar hid away the one page that turned
out to be the most important, huh?

Meanwhile, Medivh has found out that Khadgar stole a book from his library in Karazhan and has been copying images and notes from it. When the young mage says he wants to help, Medivh burns all of the guy’s research and leaves with the book. Gee, I’m starting to think the Guardian is kinda sus. Lothar doesn’t seem to believe the mage’s apprehensions, either, though starts having doubts when Khadgar shows the only page he rescued, showing that the portal may have been opened from Azeroth to let the orcs in...

The overpass

That meeting began with the best intentions...
It's gonna go to Hell real fast.

Durotan’s Frostwolves and a garrison of knights, Lothar and the King himself at the front, meet in an overpass. Garona, knowing both languages, serves as translator and interpreter, while Medivh looks from above. Cards on the table. Durotan explains that there is no going back to their dying world, but that this world also risks dying from the Fel if Gul’Dan is not dealt with, a task difficult while there are so many green orcs on his side. The chieftain is willing to negotiate a truce with the humans to defeat what is a common enemy.

While it is awesome that the King joins the battle, I have a
point of criticism: His armor betrays that he's the richest dude
on the field, it's like painting a big ol' bull's-eye on his back
with the words "I am the King, come kill me" all over it.

However, unbeknownst to all of them, Gul’Dan’s forces have learned of the meeting (from Orgrim, no less) and are hidden in the surrounding rubble, waiting to ambush. They interrupt the meeting and attack. Durotan and his “normal” brown orcs fight back against their greener kin, but the humans are led to believe the meeting was a trap and fall back, though they end up fighting. Will say, damn, King Llane hasn’t spent his life resting on the laurels of his position. The dude knows how to use a sword and he uses it right! Tell me about that, royals who actually join the fight! Outnumbered by their green brethren, the Frostwolves retreat, further reinforcing the humans' impression of a trap.

The soldiers attempt a retreat as well but are caught in the fight with the orcs. Lothar’s son Callan is also part of the garrison; the kid even devises a formation on the fly to best deal with the orcs and their giant wolves. Once the humans have grouped up, Medivh casts a spell that transforms thunder into a protective barrier, preventing orcs from attacking them.

That’s when Lothar sees his son is on the other side.

Hoo boy, that's not gonna end well.

...Claw hand to the chest. ...Works every time.

The barrier doesn’t just prevent Callan and his men from crossing to safety; it also prevents Lothar from going through to save his son. In spite of his best efforts to pierce through, the commander can do nothing but watch when his son is picked up by Blackhand and impaled on the orc’s new claw-hand prosthetic.

As the garrison leaves, Khadgar and Garona find Medivh fainted from his lookout point. On request from King Llane, they fly him to Karazhan and dip him in his pool of mana so he’ll regain his energy. However, the Guardian’s eyes glow green as he gasps for air. The apprentice knows exactly what that means. I’m gonna hate the color green once I’m done with this film, I swear...

Speaking of, this has been going long enough, and it's a good cliffhanger. See you in Part 2.