A flawed gem of the movie (SPOILERS)

Rating: 9/10 (28 May 2016)

Before I start: I have played Warcraft 2 as a kid and Warcraft 3 extensively in my teens. I have also played World of Warcraft for 2 years at release. Therefore I do have some bias, especially since I know most of the heroes and the locations in this movie. I will also not compare this movie to LotR or the Hobbit, because after seeing it, I don't think that these are comparable films.
Wow.... This movie has definitely surprising. Whatever I expected to see from Warcraft the movie both the good and bad, my expectations were definitely subverted (both positively and negatively).
Let me start with the overall impressions: the movie is solid good. If you've ever played Warcraft you should go and see that movie, just to experience this universe on screen, and, oh boy, is it a marvellous place to see. This movie will NOT review well, however, by the usual critics as it has a number of easy to pile upon issues which cannot justify an all-positive review. However, should we get a sequel this movie is just a few really bad things away from a marvellous experience and I'm sure they can get it right because the highs are very high but the lows are just a tad too low.
Let me start with clear positives. Whatever the trailers showed, whatever your initial impressions of CGI and audio, it's all much better than you thought. Even at its most boring point the movie looks awesome the backgrounds are often flat-out gorgeous, the orcs look real, the human armour doesn't stand out from the background as I feared, even the CGI baby does just fine. Visually this movie is a treat and, as I stated previously, if you want to see Stormwind or Dalaran appear on big screen, they are a sight to behold. Costumes are amazing. Orcs are huge and feel real. Warcraft even makes magic look and feel real. What an immersive visuals and sound effects.
I count is as a positive but it may be divisive for some: this movie is not for kids. This movie is brutal, serious and has scenes of torture, vicious deaths and just pure evil. I was not expecting this movie to have this level of seriousness and brutality. Apart from two clear comic relief scenes, this movie is making a very grounded and believable world out of magic portals, griffons and flying cities. No "Zug-Zug" orcs in here, only scary brutal (and sometimes honourable) orcs. This movie is tougher than Lord of the Rings by far and these is the most brutal fantasy probably brought to big screen (at least mainstream) so far.
The overall plot in its design is also good. This is not a story which falls apart when you think about it. Everything sounds proper and character actions make sense. A lot of care went into this movie, and it's clear that the director Duncan Jones loves this franchise. Did I mention orcs were scary? Gul'Dan is the evilest villain that Marvel ever hoped to get into one of their movies. This shaman is just terrifying and a threat which is both palpable and his heinous acts always hit hard. The twist in the end which obviously sets up for sequels is very clever, the whole design of plot, the dialogue are all very well written.
And now straight to what holds this movie back: while the plot is good in design, its execution is not stellar. The plot and dialogue are "too well written" to the point of being unrealistic at times. The movie has clear pacing problems: after a promising intro scene, the first act moves a bit too much between the locations. We go from Ironforge to Stormwind and then to meet the King in Goldshire (why??) within minutes. In the second act everything slows to a crawl and this is the single biggest flaw of this movie.
Without anything to break a litany of dialogues I had time to actually notice other issues, the most important of which is that emotional scenes fall between "flat" and "utterly predictable". It speaks loudly when the most interesting and emotionally well-acted character is CGI orc Durotan. His scenes with his wife, his friend and his son are the emotional highlights of the movie. The human actors do very poorly in this regard. Garona and Lothar romance is a mistake and should've been at best a respectful friendship between warriors. I hope after Zootopia studios will understand that there are other forms of interaction between male and female leads other than romantic involvement.
During the movie's second slow act it also become apparent that the whole seriousness of the movie may be a bit too much and a comic relief would be nice. Lothar went to Sarcasm 101 class, the skill he shows off often to his mage friend Khadgar. However, it's not nearly enough. Khadgar gets a single truly funny scene in the movie (hint: Polymorph) which begs the questions: why is there only one and why does it come so late in the movie?
Music is a hit and miss. I was initially sold when I heard a hint of the Stormwind theme in the beginning of the movie ,but, once again, the more emotional tunes are missing from the orchestra. It tries to highlight the realism by going for "less is more" which definitely works during brutal (you gotta see it just for the fight scenes) combat, but the rest of the movie begs for more.
And here it is. In a nutshell, the movie excels at visual design and combat scenes, but it's seriousness and slow pace can wear you down. It's a solid 7 at least, in my book, for non-warcraft fans and 9/10 for me personally because so many Warcraft things were done right. Don't go expecting the moon and you'll be pleasantly surprised.