Better Than I Expected

Rating: 10/10 (11 June 2016)

I went to see Warcraft today. I was hoping for a decent fantasy movie, not being someone who has played the games, and I was surprised by what I saw but felt it could have been better, as well. The character development was great, but the story was a little off. Not bad, just...off. I'll go into a breakdown of my score.
Grade: 9.1/10
91/100
A-
Plot: 9/10 The overall plot for Warcraft was good. I guess it's a prequel to the video games, but as I said, I haven't played the games, but it seemed to be, and that was good. It's a basic story of good versus evil. The only problem with the plot was I felt that the script could have done with another round of editing to smooth out a few of the rough edges. One scene in particular would have been amazing had they handled it better, but I saw it coming from a mile away so it did not have the impact it should have had.
Character Development: 9/10 Good characterization all around. A lot of things I thought they were going for in the movie turned out differently than I expected, and sometimes that pleased me and other times it did not. Nothing horribly bad, just...not what I would have gone for. Again, not bad, just I would have given the characters a different ending. But, again, I haven't played the games, so maybe they did get a different ending.
Direction: 9/10 The story was told well, but again, another edit might have given the director more to work with-- which is sad because the director co-wrote the screenplay.
Casting: 9/10 Casting was almost perfect. A few minor changes I might have made had I been there, but all-in- all, very little I would have changed.
Acting: 9/10 Acting was good given the script, and no one felt like they did not want to be there taking part in this world. All the actors really gave their best and did bring their characters to life.
Cinematography: 9/10 The visual look of the movie was amazing, but it also felt very much like I was watching a video game cut scene from start to finish. The orcs were well-done, as was Garona, so very little to fault other than the fact you could tell the CGI was CGI.
Music: 10/10 Musical score was perfect for the movie. Good job there.
Pacing: 9/10 Movie flowed well, though there was a point in the final battle where I just wished they would wrap things up. I know it's a war movie, but sometimes the battles just went on too long.
Sets and Costumes: 10/10 Loved the costumes in the movie.
Re-watchability: 8/10 One of the most important factors to me in a movie is how many times I want to watch it again. Warcraft was good but I'm not rushing back to the theater to see it again. In fact, I'll buy it on digital download, but if I never see it in theater again, I don't think I'll be missing out. Watch it once in the theater but then decide for yourself if you want to go back or not.