Warcraft is simultaneously a successful VG adaptation and a poor stab at fantasy-action.

Rating: 3/10 (16 June 2016)

Did I miss the post-showing brief?! Little exposition leaves non-WoW playing viewers in the lurch; characters, locations and the very crux on the film – the Fell – are given very little explanation of base-building. "Our world has been destroyed" feels cheap and lazy for the whole Horde-invading premise. This poor foundation made the remainder of the film totally uninteresting to me.
The CGI is classically Blizzard-esque and the Orc scenes and settings are the best in the film – character design is colourful and engaging – they all look different. However, the same cannot be said for the Humans – beards are dyed and have such well-groomed demarcation images of the Berlin wall are conjured. Their sets feel unlived-in, clinical and tacky in a Stargate SG-1 kind of way. The casting is equally uninspired – specifically in the plucky mage turned hero – an entirely average, intellectual-type who I imagine the aforementioned players are expected to relate to. A half-breed predictably attractive and buxom female Orc also seems to play to this demographic. The villain is lame and doesn't scare me or even his Human counterparts.
Don't get me wrong, fight scenes and visual effects are certainly high points in what was a drudge in mediocrity, playing far too heavily to its existing fan base.