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Why Is the Warcraft Movie Getting a Bad Rap? - Garrett Fuller at MMORPG.com

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  • WizbuizWizbuiz Member UncommonPosts: 215
    The movie's CGI was amazing, great entertainment. I missed deeper dialogues, and more focus on the lore and the creation of the worlds, and it seems like Trimmel haven't dropped his viking mantle just yet. I didn't like the Cooper as King, to young, to static, borring with a "ohh whatever happens happen attitude like he wasnt really in the same univers, good thing he died. Garona is to humanized and sexy, and it felt more like a "in media res" than a actual beginning of a story.
  • CazrielCazriel Member RarePosts: 419


    Have to disagree with some of the "critics" of the movie. I decided to look up some journalist reviews and I was uncertain if they were supposed to be parody. The Guardian's review says: "The prospect of a predominantly white, European realm being invaded by foreign, primitive, darker skinned hordes (they are actually called the Horde) might set alarm bells ringing in our current climate of immigration anxiety. Is this a veiled Ukip broadcast? Or a pro-Trump one?"

    What the heck did they take before writing that one? The Warcraft movie is supposed to be propaganda? The story existed a decade and a half ago, there's no way that the politics of today has any relevancy whatsoever.

    Sometimes you just have to go with a gut feeling and decide things for yourself because well uh.... The world is just stupid and unpredictable.






    But you're missing the point, which is for the critic to count coup. And Warcraft is an easy target. No one's going to miss out on bashing it.

    Most movie critics are all about either 1) themselves; or 2) defending a staked out position on what movies "should" be about. As a consequence, you really absolutely totally have to take movie criticism with a grain of salt. There aren't any great, erudite, insightful movie critics any more, like Charles Champlin of the LA Times, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times or even Pauline Kael of the New Yorker. Most of the critics writing today are hired for the entertainment desk so that's what they do.

    As for the PC sensitivity to Warcraft. Well, it is there. Tribalism is in the very DNA of Warcraft. And right now among academic intellectuals, anything that shows the clash between any two factions where one can be identified as white and the other can be identified as not-white smacks of racism to them. They will, on top of that, double down on this accusation if the not-whites are helped to success by any white character. See, for example, Avatar.

    So Warcraft can't be given any credit for being entertaining. It has to be interpreted as message, raked over the coals for its lore and thrown into the pit for its insensitivity.

    Remember, this is the same brotherhood of swells that originally condemned 2001: A Space Odyssey. Not until it became the highest grossing film of 1968 and Oscar nominated did it begin to get any recognition. Now critics fall all over themselves to name it one of the greatest and most influential movies ever made. They didn't much like Star Wars, either.

    Which brings me full circle. Ignore the critics. Not just for this movie, but every movie.
  • dularrdularr Member CommonPosts: 5
    edited May 2016
    What a hatch job article. Simply repeating what the critics and Hollywood press are saying. Even before the movie comes out in the US.

    I've seen this movie and it's good. For the gamer, it is very faithful to the source materials. The Orcs are amazing. The magic is like nothing you have seen before in a movie. The non-gamer movie goers that went with me enjoyed the movie as well. Many actually care if the Orcs will find a new home. I strongly recommend going to see this movie in an IMAX 3D theater or theater with the latest video and audio technology. Well worth seeing.

    Hollywood is trashing the movie because of five things.
    1. It got trashed by the critics.
    2. It doesn't have a big name movie star cast. (suspect Assassin Creed with get okay reviews because of Michael Fassbender.)
    3. It's a video game adaptation, all video game adaptations are bad, so Warcraft will be bad.
    4. It is not a clone of LOTR. Doesn't look like LOTR. Doesn't share the same world look or art style.
    5. It's not a Disney property. Disney movies may get bad reviews, but never the mean spirited, nasty, cruel, uninformed reviews that Warcraft is getting. (I don't think Disney pays critics. But I think critics are afraid of what Disney might do.)

    Now for the movie going audience. If you can't connect to the Orcs you are not going to like the movie. The humans are typical early Warcraft humans, indecisive and bickering. You won't connect to most of the humans.

    But, again if you can't connect to the Orcs, You won't like the movie.
    If you can't connect to a father who is trying to find a new home for his wife and newborn. You won't connect to the movie.
    If you can't connect to a mother that would make the ultimate sacrifice to save her child. You won't connect to the movie.
    If you can't connect to a chieftain who feels the Warchief has destroyed their homeworld and literally kills everything he touches. You won't connect to this movie.
    If you can't connect to his friend, who is torn between loyalty to his life long best friend and loyalty to his people. You won't connect to this movie.
    If you can't connect to a person who feel like an outsider, simply looking for her people to accept her. You won't connect to this movie.

    If you can't connect to the Orcs, you will not like this movie.
  • MrMelGibsonMrMelGibson Member EpicPosts: 3,033




    Volgore said:


    I guess the movie needs more nazi zombies.
    Every movie is better with nazi zombies.







    Well the game has undead maybe they have some of those in the movie ?

    If they don't /facepalm at the producers everyone knows you need undead zombies in a fantasy movie . Its the law . :P



    There were no undead in Warcraft 1.
  • reeereeereeereee Member UncommonPosts: 1,636
    Have to disagree with some of the "critics" of the movie. I decided to look up some journalist reviews and I was uncertain if they were supposed to be parody. The Guardian's review says: "The prospect of a predominantly white, European realm being invaded by foreign, primitive, darker skinned hordes (they are actually called the Horde) might set alarm bells ringing in our current climate of immigration anxiety. Is this a veiled Ukip broadcast? Or a pro-Trump one?" What the heck did they take before writing that one? The Warcraft movie is supposed to be propaganda? The story existed a decade and a half ago, there's no way that the politics of today has any relevancy whatsoever.

    Sometimes you just have to go with a gut feeling and decide things for yourself because well uh.... The world is just stupid and unpredictable.



    Thank you for this.  I was thinking about passing on the Warcraft movie but now that I know people are accusing it of racism I'll be sure not to miss it. 
  • KilmaulKilmaul Member UncommonPosts: 121
    I most likely will not go to see this in the theaters, judging the clips, the acting seems very mediocre and even some of the CGI seems poor at times.  If I were to spend money on it, I'd have to get the pass to skip over all the beginning fluff content and get right to the end game credits.  BaZINGa!  :D  Sorry.  :p
  • josko9josko9 Member RarePosts: 577
    As someone who has seen it, I recommend everyone to just torrent it. The movie is not good enough to justify the ticket price. Everyone that I know was very disappointed with it (mostly WoW fans). Others that know nothing about Warcraft don't even want to bother, they are saying it looks like a movie made for kids, and that they'd rather take their kids to watch ninja turtles instead.

    The critics are surprsingly pretty accurate on this one though. It's far from being among the best movies of the year, however it's also not a total disaster. Overall it's about 4-5/10, which is pretty decent considering it came from a video game, made by a company that is not known for a good storytelling.

    Warcraft made so far 31.6mil in 5 days. Considering companies are lucky if they get 15% out of it in the foreign market, that means they made only like 6mil so far. Domestic is usually around 50%, but Warcraft is predicted to be a huge flop in North America anyway.

    With 160mil budget, and probably as much marketing budget, it probably means Warcraft will need to break past 500-600mil to get any profit at all. So far it doesn't look good, I doubt there will be any sequel.
  • Gobstopper3DGobstopper3D Member RarePosts: 965
    I don't listen to critics. I never have and I never will. They are good for one thing though, I know if they trash a movie that I will like it and if they are slobbering all over a movie, I will most likely hate. My youngest daughter who plays wow, want to see it as do I, so we will be going.

    We saw X-men this weekend and loved it. The theater was packed so I guess none of those movie goers pay any attention to the critics either.

    I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.

  • TacticalZombehTacticalZombeh Member UncommonPosts: 430
    The last movie critics I paid any attention to were Siskel and Ebert... I learned that if they hated a movie I would probably enjoy it, and that proved to be the case most times.
    Movie critics are in their own little world.
  • mrrshann618mrrshann618 Member UncommonPosts: 279
    I'm not sure if I'm going to see the movie. I saw a few screenshots and I really did not have that same WoW feel.



    The shoulder pads are too small, Broke all the immersion.
    Play what you Like. I like SWOTR, Have a referral to get you going!
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  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    DMKano said:
    The reason why it's getting a bad rap is maybe because it's not that good of a movie?

    I know, crazy right?
    I'd be willing to bed, judging from reviews and the trailer, that this is really all that needs to be said on the matter.

    That's not to say it's a terrible movie- it is more than likely enjoyable.  Just not an incredible experience or a shining example of the theatrical art.

    image
  • filmoretfilmoret Member EpicPosts: 4,906




    Volgore said:


    I guess the movie needs more nazi zombies.
    Every movie is better with nazi zombies.







    Well the game has undead maybe they have some of those in the movie ?

    If they don't /facepalm at the producers everyone knows you need undead zombies in a fantasy movie . Its the law . :P



    There were no undead in Warcraft 1.
    You sure about that?  I thought the warlock could raise skeletons from dead.
    Are you onto something or just on something?
  • VolgoreVolgore Member EpicPosts: 3,872
    I'm not sure if I'm going to see the movie. I saw a few screenshots and I really did not have that same WoW feel.



    The shoulder pads are too small, Broke all the immersion.
    haha :)
    Watch the movie! I tell you the shoulderpads aren't small, but about just the same size as they are in the game.
    It's just that the orcs are huge in the movie and for once fit into the big pads.

    image
  • DeivosDeivos Member EpicPosts: 3,692
    edited May 2016
    filmoret said:




    Volgore said:


    I guess the movie needs more nazi zombies.
    Every movie is better with nazi zombies.







    Well the game has undead maybe they have some of those in the movie ?

    If they don't /facepalm at the producers everyone knows you need undead zombies in a fantasy movie . Its the law . :P



    There were no undead in Warcraft 1.
    You sure about that?  I thought the warlock could raise skeletons from dead.
    Orc/Horde side had skeletons and "the dead" and one unit that dealt with undead, the necrolyte. There were also skeletons in the neutral faction.

    "The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay

    "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin

  • Beyond_EterniaBeyond_Eternia Member UncommonPosts: 102
    What gets me is people go in expecting its based off WoW. It is more based off the books.
    Time you enjoy wasting...is not wasted time
  • d_20d_20 Member RarePosts: 1,878
    edited May 2016
    Have to watch it at least once, even if it does turn out to be garbage.


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  • DKLondDKLond Member RarePosts: 2,273
    Perhaps an american can explain what it might be about the movie that american critics don't like?
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  • DKLondDKLond Member RarePosts: 2,273
    DKLond said:
    Perhaps an american can explain what it might be about the movie that american critics don't like?
    I personally don't like the CG, there are a lot of parts in the movie where the CG looks terrible.
    Ok, I thought it was some of the best CG I've ever seen - and I consider myself a harsh critic.

    For instance, I thought the CG in the Hobbit movies was universally terrible.

    That said, I can't correlate that critique with how american critics seem to dislike it, while european critics have been more generous.
  • aeoleonaeoleon Member UncommonPosts: 75
    I saw it last night and I really liked it. I do not think it's the best fantasy movie ever filmed, but I was entertained.

    I was actually more interested on what my partner thought of it, because he never played Warcraft and he doesn't even know any of the lore, and he was like "I really enjoyed that", I think it means a lot because if a person that never read, played Warcraft before enjoyed the movie then there is hope that other people in the same situation do so too.

    Having said that, there were a few scenes that I could have lived without (in the Humans perspective part of the movie).

    Also, even being a "for the Alliance" kind of guy, I really cared about the Orc story.

    The CGI in 3D was a bit overwhelming in the first 5-10 minutes, but you soon get used to it. I will see in 2D at the cinema again (I did like it enough to warrant a 2nd cinema go).

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  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    edited May 2016
    t.
    They still get paid royalties for that movie. Even if they didn't make it.
    Probably not. Activision Blizzard and Legendary films entered into a "content licensing". deal. This could involve 1. a straightforward payment to Blizzard 2. a share of any profit 3. A minimum payment + (smaller) share of any profit.

    Now  I am certainly not privy to the deal but:  

    Based on Sam Mendes's comments (initial director) and Duncan Jones more recent comments it is clear that Blizzard have been actively involved in the film e.g. scrapping a script. They have certainly been involved in promoting the film. And there were the reports that Universal wanted a different release date but Blizzard wanted summer - for obvious reasons. This is huge though. 

    This points to control, involvement, direction, partnership. And the decisions they have been taking cost money and influence revenue. So they may have part funded the film as well - hence their influence. With the costs possibly classed as advertising.

    So will the film make them money?
    Probably not directly - cinema owners, the distributor etc. all take a share whiich is why films have to take more than they cost. And with so many films - hard to see.
    Indirectly? A positive benefit on WoW presumably but we won't know of course.
  • daltaniousdaltanious Member UncommonPosts: 2,381
    Been yesterday and I'm going also tomorrow with another friends. Guess will go to see it 1 time more next week. Have not did this from times of Star wars, Conan, ... and maybe Terminator if I remember correctly. That says it all. Movie is INCREDIBLE, love it, enjoy it every single minute. Effects, story, historical characters, .... just incredible. Sure helps I'm in love with Wow in general and I know Stormwind and other places and was incredible feeling seeing them in movie, but would be the same anyway. And having 8.1 on IMDB I think majority enjoyed. I just hope there will be more and more Wow movies.
  • IggiePuffIggiePuff Member UncommonPosts: 146
    Everyone I've heard of that already got to see Warcraft has said it's a very good movie. Even saying that it makes you want to play WoW.
  • DKLondDKLond Member RarePosts: 2,273
    EqualsM said:
    Everyone I've heard of that already got to see Warcraft has said it's a very good movie. Even saying that it makes you want to play WoW.
    I made a Paladin just yesterday :)
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