Warcraft, fantasy in it's purest form.

Rating: 10/10 (31 May 2016)

Unlike the critic's epic fail in giving this movie a fair review, Warcraft was an epic win for Blizzard. Warcraft is not the usual crappy video game spin-off movie, it feels and plays like it was meant for the big screen. In general, Blizzard made the movie while keeping the fans in mind giving priority to their needs (as it should be) rather than dumbing down the lore for random moviegoer. Yet, for the non-fans it does not disappoint. Warcraft bring to the table a series of epic battle and dilemmas that will keep you engaged throughout the 2 hour run time.
If you have no prior exposure to the Warcraft universe there are 3 major aspects that Warcraft does better in than any other movie of its genre. Dare I say it does better in them than LOTR did.
1. Magic.
Warcraft does not have your typical wise gray bearded wizard who sits on his ass all day reading, and when the situation becomes dire, he flashes in and save the day. Nor is it Gandalf who can blast enemies away by just swinging his staff. In Warcraft, a huge variety of magic can be witnessed. Incantations are used, mages can use the elements arcane, frost,and fire to fend for themselves in battle. On the other hand, warlocks can use Fel magic that feeds of life itself to cast dangerous yet powerful spells to aid them in battle. Magic and its various types are easily seen in Warcraft. Also, mages are not the old man in the pointy hat, they are young people who sharpen there skills in direct combat on the battle field, whether its with other mages or fully armored warriors. Moreover, mages are not invincible as they can be jumped, captured or incapacitated via conventional means.
2. Battles.
Another plus for Warcraft are the battles that were fought. The orcs fleeing a dying world try to invade another to survive. They then send a small warband to pave the way, and ensure the rest of the horde can make it to Azeroth. Amazingly (sarcasm) the small warband follows a logical strategy of warfare, as we would expect from creature raised in a culture of war. The orcs acknowledge their small numbers stick to swift raids and ambushes to fight the enemy. The most satisfying part of the battles is that these hulking monsters are not massacred by the humans with relative ease like LOTR. Surprisingly the orcs fight like hulking beasts would do by using brute force to crush the enemy. The humans who never encountered orcs before try to adapt to orcs and slowly start to put up a fight.
3. Orcs.
Last but defiantly not least, orcs. Just to make things clear orcs in Warcraft are not the inherently evil orcs and uruks of LOTR. In Warcraft, orcs have there own culture, architecture, language, free will, and the respect for tradition. The tribal orcs of Draenor did not unite and invade Azeroth purely for blood lust. The path they took was out of desperation as their world collapsed, it was necessary to ensure the survival of their race (you would understand this better if you played the game as it was not explained well in the movie). Another thing Warcraft does well is that they show how barbaric these orcs are, but they do not cross the thin line and mix it with being evil, and the viewer can clearly see this distinction between evil and a barbaric way of life. As a result of this, the viewer will adore some orcs while deeply despising others.
Other than the stunning CGI, these features distinguished Warcraft from other fantasies, and could be appreciated by all viewers. (Some viewers my find the movie cliché, but remember, the story came out in 1994 as the first Warcraft game was released. Orcs having their own way of life and are not necessarily evil was pretty original back then.)
Fans, with prior knowledge of what will happen and where the story is going will be greeted warmly by the movie. As the lore does not explain itself a lot, Blizzard had more time to insert Easter eggs for the fans to spot, while the characters venture through familiar locations were all WOW (World or Warcraft) players have visited. Also, due to the small time invested in explaining the lore we as fans are treated to ambushes, raids, and epic battles unfold similar to the battle of Warcraft III ROC intro.
Blizzard has given us a movie that any fantasy lover could enjoy, and fans who already know the lore could relate to as everything unfolds. Regrettably, no movie is perfect and in Warcraft, a lot of the cast members aren't familiar with acting in a fantasy movie (Dominic Cooper). Sometimes emotions are not present were they are needed the most. The lore was not explained well as there was no time (again the movie was for the fans), so some viewers may be lost and not know completely whats happening. A personal dislike I had for the movie is that they changed a small part of the lore for dramatic purposes (it is a movie after all) that as a die hard fan of the lore I didn't appreciate. All-in-all the movie was amazing and its not worth missing, whether you're a fan of not.