There’s been so much hype surrounding the Warcraft movie, there’s been a few delays and even director changes. The movie appeared to be on track with the arrival of director Duncan Jones. Well, so we were led to believe.
Today the first reviews from the movie press have landed, and as we thought might happen based on the dodgy trailers, the reviews are not exactly glowing. One reviewer even commented he would rather sit through the Super Mario Bros movie than watch Warcraft again. Now that is bad.
The Hollywood Reporter gave the movie the most praise:
“The balance between those sequences and the battles, with their brutal swordplay and thwacks of flesh and bone, won’t suit everyone, and the sections where you might zone out will depend on your taste. But the movie is character-driven every step of the way. That’s why, even if the world created by Jones and his talented design collaborators, both old-school physical and cutting-edge digital, isn’t seamlessly believable so much as staggeringly crafted, it casts a spell.”
Variety was a little less generous:
“Boasting more than 2,000 visual effects shots, it’s dispiriting to think about the time, energy, planning and precision that went into “Warcraft” when the final product brings to mind those animated advertisements for iPhone app games. So good at making the most outlandish elements of his first two films seem completely credible, Jones can’t find a way to get this cartoony spectacle to soar. His heartfelt approach to the material only underlines the silliness.”
Finally, there’s this from The Wrap :
“The cast seems mostly adrift, with only Schnetzer giving what might be considered an actual performance. The usually reliable Foster is reduced to gadding about like a prog-rock Jesus in a series of robes that make him look like he’s posing for the side of someone’s van, and poor Paula Patton gets saddled with a sad pair of novelty-store fangs.
“Warcraft” promises, or threatens, sequels, but then so did “Super Mario Bros.” And come to think of it, if forced to watch either of these video-game movies a second time, I’d probably vote for the plumbers.”
So there you have it, it sounds like it’s not exactly good. Then again, it’s a videogame movie so we didn’t expect it to be good based on the trailers. Perhaps the Assassin’s Creed movie will deliver later this year.
Published: May 25, 2016 04:16 am