Not without its faults, but even so, this is what video game movies should aspire to be

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2016)

Let me start the review by saying that I am a long time player of both Warcraft and World of Warcraft series, so my review will be affected by the fact that I am a fan. It would probably be very different if I were a person who never played any of the games.
That said, this is probably the main fault of this movie as a movie in general. It will hardly appeal to anyone who hasn't played the games. Why? Because the movie has so much content in a short amount of time, it was hard enough to not get a little lost watching it even as someone who already more or less knew who everyone on screen was and where they were. But for a first timer, I can imagine it being extremely confusing. Imagine if the three Hobbit movies (not talking about the book), and all the content they contained, were mashed into one, roughly 2 hour long movie. It would be a deeply confusing experience. This is about the scope of Warcraft. The scope of this movie is huge. It deals with two major factions, having prominent characters on both sides, and covers quite a hefty amount of events as it goes. It should have been a three hour movie, easily. And it wouldn't have felt needlessly padded, in my opinion. Perhaps later we'll have a director's cut released that will slow the pacing down a little, but until then, this movie blazes through too much, too quickly. And yes, the infamous romance should have been left out- it felt unnatural, with no chemistry, and seemed to be added as an afterthought, following the age old movie principle that the main guy from one faction and the badass girl from the other have to get together at some point on screen or we can't have a movie. The screen time that took could have been used for something more important.
That said, all that criticism aside, this movie is great. It is clearly a movie made with existing fans in mind, with no shortage of fanservice everywhere. But it's not just thrown in as an afterthought. The movie breathes detail. It shows that the people who made the movie, loved the game, its universe, understood how everything must look, feel and sound. It is a truly wonderful experience for a fan. The locations are wonderfully well done and instantly recognisable from their in-game counterparts. The characters, even the background ones, are also instantly recognisable, sporting their iconic features, armor, weaponry and the like. It is nothing short of pleasurable to watch and immerse yourself in this experience for someone who played the games.
The movie also does a brilliant job of portraying the factions just right. The Horde and the Alliance are both represented by their fair share of charismatic characters and both sides are treated fairly. There are no generic good and bad guys in this movie. This movie features a war between people, as it should. It does not openly favor one faction, in that, keeping with the tradition set by the games.
Speaking of war, the action on screen does not disappoint. It's a good thing they did not make this into a kid-friendly movie, despite Warcraft having an artstyle that may make it seem appealing to kids. War is in the name, and war is brutal. You will see blood flow in this movie, the occasional limb fly and the like. It's nothing over the top or needlessly brutal. But when you have a battlefield of guys going at each other with all manner of sharp or blunt instruments of war, you should see blood, and you will in this movie.
Speaking of story, I will reiterate- this is not a movie for kids. It's not a happy story. Losses will be had, sacrifices will be made and it probably won't end the way a first time viewer would predict it to end. That said, once again, it fits what I said earlier, when talking about factions- this is a story about people. Few people in this movie are wholy good or bad. Most of the characters are morally complex and thus, the story the movie tells is as well.
To conclude, Warcraft is a great video game movie, a solid first entry of what I hope will be several sequels that further the story. While the movie would have benefited from longer length, so the pacing could be slowed down a bit and thus, first time viewers would not be as confused, this is clearly a movie primarily for fans. And fans will not be disappointed.