An absolute spectacle !

Rating: 10/10 (4 June 2016)

Is it Lord of the Rings? No, not enough Anglo Saxon inspired names. Is it Game of Thrones? No, not enough boobs and incest. Is it a Fantasy film that will excite and entertain? Absolutely!
From the very opening scene you are blown away by the visuals. As soon as you clap your eyes upon an orc face you are met with what I can only describe as a photo-realistic cartoon. You know you are looking at a fantasy creature but the detail of the skin, hair and movement tell you otherwise. The scenery is breathtaking, trees greener than any you've seen before, towers taller than you can imagine. I have read many reviews that have stated its not real enough, the orcs don't look like real orcs, the magic doesn't look like real magic and the cities don't look like real cities. I'm sorry but isn't a fantasy film meant to be about a fantasy place, involving fantasy characters?
speaking of characters, there are plenty which leads me to my only gripe with this film ... expositions. The reality of bringing a world this big and complicated to a new audience is that you only have few hours to introduce, explain and build on each character. this lead to, at times, heavy clunky moments of exposition. My name is x, this is my personal history aaaaand moving on. But and this is a big 'but', the performances given by the actors were incredible, they had so little time to get you invested in them but they really managed to do it.
the fight scenes are great despite being mostly computerized. You feel the impacts, you squirm at blows, it all seems to connect in a very real and visceral way.
Hats of to all who created this film, this could have been a major flop. I mean it really could have been crap, they could have skimped on effects, got the wrong actors for the roles, it could have been a quick cash grab and advert for the game. Instead however we get a film that is clearly full of passion and heart and absolutely entertaining.
Ps: ignore the critics reviews they are just people who get paid to tell you their opinion, they don't know a good movie more than you or I.