Does big-screen adaptation of the popular Warcraft franchise deliver? Steve finds out.
By Steve McGillivray // From the first MS-DOS video game to the popular World of Warcraft, it has taken just over twenty years for the franchise to reach the big screen. Under the direction of Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code), Warcraft: The Beginning is a visually appealing look at the world of Azeroth and the impact of a rampaging war party of Orcs led by the power mad warlock, Gul’dan (Daniel Wu).
I must confess that I went into the movie worried that my enjoyment may have been hampered somewhat, as I hadn’t played a Warcraft game since that 1994 debut, which was a top-down real-time strategy game in the vein of Command & Conquer. I’ve managed to avoid becoming embroiled in the raids and guilds of the MMORPG World of Warcraft. I didn’t know my Durotan from my Medivh, but this didn’t affect my enjoyment in the least. Sure, I probably missed a few inside jokes and nods, but I never felt I was missing anything vital.
Warcraft opens on the Orc home world, which is dying. The Orcs need to relocate in order to survive, so an interdimensional portal is opened to Azeroth. Gul’dan leads through an Orc war party to establish a beach head before the entire Horde can be brought through. The portal though, requires living souls to power it. The prisoner’s life is literally sucked from them to open the portal. So, once in Azeroth, the Orcs need more prisoners and a new portal.
In the early encounters, no humans escape the Orc army, falling before them or being taken for the portal. Only the investigations of a novice mage, Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer), lets the humans of Stormwind know that something is amiss. The Guardian, Medivh (Ben Foster), is called to help after having been away for several years. He confirms bad things are going down, and King Llane Wrynn (Dominic Cooper) sends out his brother-in-law and right hand man Lothar (Travis Fimmel) to find out what this threat is.
Durotan and his Stormwolf Clan–including his heavily pregnant mate Draka–are not fully behind the methods of the Orc war party under Gul’dan’s leadership. Raids are kidnapping women and children. This is behavior that doesn’t sit well with Durotan. The Orcs are in danger of becoming something unrecognisable. The problem for Durotan is that he finds himself and his clan very much in the minority.
Aided by Garona, Durotan secretly meets with Lothar in order to try and find a solution. The two arrange for a meeting with the king in a ravine. Unfortunately, the Orcs have got wind of the meeting. Blackhand (Clancy Brown) springs a trap, but not before Durotan makes his plea to King Wrynn and Lothar. Things go from bad to worse when Medivh uses magic to create a barrier between the warring factions. In the process, some Stormwind soldiers are cut off, including Lothar’s son. Blackhand kills him in full view of Lothar. Both sides retreat, unable to get at each other through the magic barrier.
Medivh’s counsel is sought over what course of action the humans should take, but when Lothar and Khadgar visit him in his tower they find he’s been taken over by the same magic fuelling Gul’dan. The well of power in his tower, literally swimming with magic, is poisoned by Medivh and he and a giant clay Gollum he’s created battle Lothar and Khadgar. They eventually defeat them, exorcising a demonic looking figure from the Guardian in the process, showing he’d been possessed all along. Medivh does not survive the encounter however.
Durotan and his right hand man, Orgrim are duly locked upon their return to the Orcs, while the rest of the clan are summarily executed on Gul’dan’s orders. Orgrim manages to get away and warns Durotan’s wife to flee with their new-born child. She manages to set him adrift in a basket, Moses-style, before dying of wounds inflicted by a pursuing Orc. Over in Stormwind, King Wrynn decides to send his entire might against the portal, which is very near completion, in a last ditch effort to stop the portal opening and surely sealing their doom.
The pace picks up as the army approaches the portal. Durotan demands trial by combat and faces off against Gul’dan. Initially Durotan holds his own, much to Gul’dan’s fury. Clearly knowing he faces a real battle, the warlock calls on the Fell, the magic that infuses him and allows him to open the portal (with the help of all the living souls), to overpower and defeat Durotan. Their are rumblings of discontent from the watching Orcs though, as to behave in this manner in such a sacred setting is to dishonour all Orcs. Durotan lies dead and the air is rife with rebellion when the human army attacks. Ironically this unites the Orcs against the new threat and they meet the humans head on in a fierce battle.
The battle rages on and after fierce fighting, a small contingent of humans are left, including the King with Garona by his side. As the Orcs close in, King Wrynn tells Garona she must kill him to gain honor in the eyes of the Orcs. In doing so she may be able to forge peace between the Orcs and humans. So just like that she drives her very distinct dagger into the back of the King’s neck, killing him and gaining her place in the Orc ranks.
The action isn’t finished yet, though as Lothar dives right into the Orcs and lets his griffon loose. Blackhand challenges Lothar and payback is delivered, with Lothar making short work of the Orc. As Gul’dan moves to kill him, the Orcs allow him to leave, preserving the sanctity of the trial by combat, with his kings body and the knowledge that Garona has killed him. There are twists aplenty from the moment the two races come into contact and some character arcs go places that are maybe not obvious. Some of the CGI work is exceptional, especially on Durotan. A lot of emotion is conveyed by Toby Kebbell and captured really well.
To counter that though, Dominic Cooper really seems to struggle to give off an air of gravitas. I always measure kings/leaders by gauging whether I’d be standing beside him after the rousing speech. King Llane Wrynn would be on his own against the Orcs. I also like the risk Duncan Jones takes by effectively killing off both factions leaders in the first movie.
There are a couple of other small gripes, like Garona, the half human/half Orc. Why does Gul’dan hold her as a slave? It would have been good to have known a little more about her story, given her role in the movie. Other locations, races and groups are only touched on briefly. It provides a maddening glimpse at the wider world. But, that’s a very small and overly picky gripe given this is the first movie in a (hopefully) larger saga. Medivh was underused, though. It wasn’t clear if he chose to embrace to the evil magic, or if he was taken over by it.
.My complaints are small. Several can be excused as it’s the first movie of a series. However, there’s more than enough for game fans, fantasy fans and people who like wide-reaching action movies with heart. I’d definitely see this again.