Summary
The 2016Warcraftmovie is currently trending on Netflix nearly a full decade after its original theatrical release – but is this big-screen video game adaptation worth watching or not? Directed by Duncan Jones, son of David Bowie,Warcraftrevolves around two heroes on opposing sides of a fantastical war: Anduin Lothar of Stormwind and Durotan of the Frostwolf clan. As a warlock named Gul’dan leads the Horde through a magical portal to invade Azeroth, the heroes must band together to fight back and restore peace.
Although it bombed at the domestic box office,Warcraftbecame a considerable hit on its Chinese release. It was still a commercial disappointment overall, but the box office receipts from ChinapushedWarcraftto become the highest-grossing video game movie(a record it still holds today). It wasn’t a huge success, but it wasn’t a total failure, either. Now, theWarcraftmovie has arrived on Netflix and it’s currently trending on the site. But is it worth checking out or, like most video game movies, is it a good idea to skip this one?
Warcraft Has A 29% Score From Critics On Rotten Tomatoes
The movie’s Rotten Tomatoes audience score is 76%
The Rotten Tomatoes score forWarcraftis an interesting beast, because it has a dismal critics’ score, but a much more flattering audience score. It has a “rotten” critics’ score of 29%, indicating thatjust under three quarters of all film critics gave it a negative write-up. Alternatively, it has a “fresh” audience score of 76%, indicating thatjust over three quarters of all audience ratings were positive. The ratio of positive reviews to negative reviews is practically flipped between the critics’ score and the audience score. It’s a much more audience-friendly movie than a critic-friendly movie.
It’s hardly surprising thatWarcraftwas panned by critics, since that’s usually the way it goes with video game adaptations.Five Nights at Freddy’shas a critics’ score of 32%.Lara Croft: Tomb Raiderhas a critics’ score of 20%.DoomandAssassin’s Creedeach have a critics’ score of 18%.Hitman: Agent 47has a truly abysmal score of just 8%. There are a handful of recent exceptions –Falloutearned a near-perfect RT score of 93% andThe Last of Usearned an even more near-perfect score of 96% – but,generally, critics tend to dislike video game adaptations.
Warcraft’s Reviews Favor The Visuals & Special Effects
It looks great, but the story and characters are lacking
The overwhelming majority ofWarcraft’s reviews were negative. Rotten Tomatoes reports that the average rating among critics was 4.4/10, which certainly isn’t great. Most critics complained that the movie doesn’t give its audience any reason to care about what happens to the characters. The cast is full of great actors like Paula Patton and Clancy Brown and Ruth Negga, but they’re not given enough to work with to really shine. Their roles are one-note genre archetypes as opposed to well-developed, three-dimensional characters.
But there were also a handful of positive reviews, mostly praising the film’s visuals and special effects. All the critics seemed to agree thatWarcraft’s storytelling and characterization were seriously lacking, but some of them felt that the movie was visually stunning enough to make up for that. It requires plenty of suspension of disbelief, but the positive reviews promise that audiences willing to suspend their disbelief will be rewarded with a really fun, escapist moviegoing experience. It lives up to the fantasy genre’s best promise: to immerse viewers in a whole new world.
Warcraft Is Still Worth Watching For Fans Of Fantasy Movies
It delivers the goods in its genre
Based on its alternative title,Warcraft: The Beginning, it seems as though this movie was intended to start a franchise. However, it didn’t make much of a splash at the domestic box office, quickly died a death, and the possibility of a sequel promptly went away. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the film failed to strike a chord with its target demographic; there are many reasons why a movie might perform below expectations, with poor marketing being the main one.
Despite its commercial underperformance and dismal critical reception, theWarcraftmovie is still worth checking out for both fans of the video game franchise and fans of the fantasy genre in general.Fans of the video games will enjoy spotting all the familiar Easter eggsand fans of the fantasy genre will enjoy being immersed in a beautifully realized, otherworldly fantastical setting.Warcraftmight not be a great movie, but it does have great fantasy visuals.
Warcraft
Cast
Warcraft is a fantasy film depicting the conflict between the human realm of Azeroth and invading orc warriors fleeing their dying world. As a mystical portal connects the two worlds, two heroes from opposing sides emerge, facing choices that will determine the fate of their people and homeland.
