Perfect for a fan, but not "a Good Movie" at all.

Rating: 2/10 (26 June 2016)

This film excels in money making cause it is suitable as a franchise to satisfy fans. Great green-screen scenery, imaginative static frames and camera work (1 star). Cast was also fine: none expected any kind of acting in game-based movies. Ben Foster and Travis Fimmel overacted but it worked out fine after all. I liked CGI and the make-up job at some point (not elven tho, they were horribly designed). For instance, discolorations on faces in various scenes were on point (2 stars). All of this do make a good wrapper to sell stuff.
Positive signs had been destroyed by some "A-movie criteria" which are almost non-existent here. There are tons of questions about villains motivation. Of course you can guess about "moving factors" of global events. But no character motivation actually is explained, scene just happened and you are obviously left to wait for another part to figure all the reasons. That's not how you make a good movie, even franchised one. See "Lord of the Rings" on how this problem can be solved in fantasy genre.
Director also abandoned character development for some reason and chose to focus on visuals. And sometimes you feel an overdose on visuals: long shots in action scenes are failed to impress. Particular shots and close-ups of main orks like Durotan are sexy, beautifully made. But all those theatrical props are no use since we have no character development. Cuz nothing can distract a viewer from cheap-looking requisite but a true Warcraft-fan excitement (look at their Ornate Plate and weapon: "Life is plastic, It's fantastic!"). This excitement also supports the weak screenplay. Not even worth mentioning.
It feels like the film has no director! Things are happening, ugly elves are talking, useless dwarfs remain useless, characters are dying, but you could not care less about them cause they were not developed and their motivation is primitive yet confusing sometimes.
So here you have it: being a fan you don't need all those pesky "good movie attributes". Fans got what they needed. But does it have a creative value? Surely not. It has a commercial value only. It is entertaining here and there but not worth your money unless you are strongly addicted to "Warcraft" universe. Too much money and effort and time were invested in "Warcraft" to make another meaningless spectacle. And none cares if it's "the best of the worst" game-based film, it is still bad and looks poorly written. Maybe later they'll make something deeper out of it, but not now. Sorry. Next.