The film Warcraft fans deserve

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2016)

First of all, the important question: Am I a fan or not?
I am not a die hard Warcraft fan besides some characters from Warcraft 3. I do not know the entire lore. I never read a Warcraft book, I only started playing with Warcraft 3. I played WoW in 2005, dropped it after a month or so and only joined again in 2015.
That said: I do not get the critics AT ALL. This movie is by far better than the critics want it to be.
This movie has so much love and details, it is breathtaking. You can tell, in every scene, how close the film is to the source material. Especially for the fans who know all the small pieces and were like: "OMG! It is exactly like in the game."
The acting was okay, far from being as horrible as described. I actually liked Khadgar's more clumsy appearance which visibly lightened the overall very dark tone of the movie. And Ben Foster as Medivh actually played surprisingly convincing. The orcs all acted flawlessly via motion-capture.
The CGI was top notch. The orcs look better than Avatar, so does the overall CGI (for the budget). The CGI environments were a feast for the eyes. Again, the fans will love it because they recognize every single detail of it. Stormwind, the forest, Deadwind Pass, Dalaran. Everything looks so familiar.
The set pieces were lovely crafted and there were more than I expected. Every interior was at least partly real.
The pacing was no problem for me, as I did pay attention throughout the film. I got myself into the setting and some concepts and then it works.
The overall story was okay with some nice twists. Not Oscar-worthy, but compelling. It is a good vs. evil story but with some heavy twists to the standard fantasy formula.
About the orcs. Oh boy. The orcs are all outstanding. Very likable ( or not ;) ). Gul'dan and Blackhand are just as bad-ass as Durotan and Orgrim. And fans will see a VERY important character in the background for future films.
There are emotional scenes but they could have been a tad more emotional. The death scenes especially were too emotionless.
Yes, it can get confusing if you do not know anything about the Warcraft universe. 10 minutes more would have been okay to explain some stuff a bit more. And would have guaranteed higher ratings.
I do not trust the US critics anymore. No a single one. They clearly do not know what they are reviewing. They are far from being realistic. Everything that is 'only' okay is panned. This is unrealistic.
"Unrealistic movie" - It is HIGH FANTASY! "SMB The Movie is better" - Eh what?! "The movie is racist" - There are at least 3 black actors (Soldier, Taria, Garona). "The movie is too serious" - Is LOTR or GoT that humorous? And there is no Trump in the film either, dear The Guardian.
The European foreign language reviews (german, french, danish, Swedish) are correct in this case, they are all favorable. They range between 5-9 with some exceptions which is fair for the film. The US reviews are NOT fair.
It is a feast for fans and still okay/good for non-fans. The film still works if you take away the huge fan service it has to offer.
Of course, it is not the next LOTR. None of the fans expected it. Not a single one! But those critics, which make them unbelievable. They do not even give this movie a chance. Warcraft: The Beginning is far from being perfect and even if you are a fan it still has some flaws. Therefore no perfect score.
For fans: 9/10. For non-fans: 7/10.
As I am a fan, somehow, I still give the film an 8 because I, personally, had a blast.