A disappointment to everyone

Rating: 6/10 (24 May 2017)

It's sad when the creators really want to make the fans happy: you can see it on the well written plot and on the many shout-outs to the whole lore (the war theater map, the weapons, the sheep spell...), and yet you make such a half-assed attempt that neither fans nor unrelated moviegoers can be satisfied.
It's sad when fantasy movies are all about visuals, and yet this movie provides Sci-fi Channel flicks-tier visual effects: poor coordination between the CG animated orcs and the human stunts, gaudy colors that could have been matted except that the producers didn't want to disappoint fans (and I really appreciate the thought, if that was the reason), the armor looks so uncomfortable and cosplay-ish that any non- fan laughs and scoffs at them...
It's sad when critics say that the orcs were better performers than the humans. And it's true: the actors seemed very dispassionate and unconvinced, like this was a direct-to-DVD movie instead of a blockbuster with billions spent on it. Might as well just've made it an animated film since the (painfully obvious CGI) orcs had more life and passion in them than Travis Fimmel and Ben Foster did.
So overall watching this movie made me sad, for even though there was a blatant and offensive sequel hook in the end, there might not be a sequel for this movie. None of the conflicts left unsolved will be put together in a next episode of this adventure. And there is no need for it. This movie felt like one of those toy-introducing TV productions: there is resolution... inside the games. I should go play some.