Warcraft (Duncan Jones)

[Dukefrukem]

The Two Towers
The Fellowship of the Ring
An Unexpected Journey
The Return of the King
The Desolation of Smaug
The Battle of the Five Armies

[transmogrifier]

The Two Towers
The Fellowship of the Ring
An Unexpected Journey
The Return of the King
The Desolation of Smaug
The Battle of the Five Armies

The Two Towers EE
The Fellowship of the Ring EE
The Two Towers TE
The Return of the King EE
The Fellowship of the Ring TE
The Return of the King TE



Hobbit stuff

[Morris Schæffer]

Return of the King was way too fucking long and reused a lot of the things we saw in TTT.

I think the cumulative emotional impact of rotk, what with it being the final chapter, easily overcomes familiarity or repetition. It is too long, but isn't that a feeling perpetuated by all the codas at the end? Everything until the eagles rescue frodo and sam is vital, necessary, powerful. The film builds to a colossal climax.

[Dukefrukem]

I think the cumulative emotional impact of rotk, what with it being the final chapter, easily overcomes familiarity or repetition. It is too long, but isn't that a feeling perpetuated by all the codas at the end? Everything until the eagles rescue frodo and sam is vital, necessary, powerful. The film builds to a colossal climax.

Lol you're right. That's two deus ex machina resolutions in 1 film! How did I forget about that? All the more reason why Return of the King is the worst.

[Peng]

1. Fellowship of the Ring
2. Return of the King
3. Two Towers
4. Battle of the Five Armies
5. Desolation of Smaug
6. An Unexpected Journey (conflict between Thorin and Bilbo: weak add-in to engineer extremely forced dramatic 'catharsis' at the end; dwarves breaking into merry song at Rivendell dinner: the series' low)

[Sycophant]

In the deep corners of my heart, I think I was hoping this might be a secret Speed Racer, something great panned as something terrible because everyone's expectations were already set so very low that they didn't bother to pay attention and relished in making all the easy jokes in their newspaper reviews. I'd wager that a lot of people did the same thing with Warcraft--barely paid attention (it's not that hard to follow) and made the easy jokes (lol videogames)--but alas, this is no Speed Racer. However, it's even further, I think, from being Battlefield Earth.

I agree with those here who say it could have used some more time to pad these characters out. The main cast all have something of an interesting story that is pretty well outlined, but it's only ever a little more than outlined. It would benefit from more hang out time, let the characters feel more lived-in. This is, by the way, a complaint I think I have about very nearly every major blockbuster-like film I've seen in the last five years. And some scenes do seem to cut way too abruptly.

Unfortunately, some of the cast don't quite carry their weight. Ben Foster's character and his assistant both feel like they're either about to fall asleep or start acting in a stoner comedy (Foster has a couple of good minutes, too, to be fair). The human protagonist, Lothar, is pretty charismatic, and plays the character with a shagginess and world-weariness that gives the film a lot more levity than it might under another's performance. The young wizard Khadgar has a boyish earnestness that somehow never quite seems to gel with what his character's actually about, though on paper it seems close.

Personally, I'd like to see a follow-up that carries this vision forward. I'm not sure I like the idea of Duncan Jones being tied up in Azeroth for the next ten years, but it seems to me he has something very specific that he is trying to get across, and I think there's potential for a sequel in the same voice to make this into a really compelling saga. The film's best moments (between characters, as they explore their relationships with one another)

I'm not a complete novice to this world, I should note. I used to really enjoy Warcraft II, stared at the illustrations in the WC2 manual for hours on end as a teenager, and have played a bit of Warcraft III. But the memory of the games' stories have faded a lot and this particular story is not something I can remember reading.

The effects, with the exception of the griffin (which looks like it could've been rendered on my PS4), look pretty amazing, too. The visual design is so distinctive and gaudy in both Alliance and Horde factions, and it gives the film a real unique personality. One thing I've always been impressed with in Blizzard's Warcraft games is how colorful they make their fantasy world, and that's marvelously realized here. Almost everything feels tactile in a way that a lot of other special effects-generated fantasy worlds have failed to, I feel. And the CG on the orcs, in particular, is stunning. Durotan is wonderfully expressive, and his weight feels genuine. The over-the-top visual design of everything probably helps these computer-generated cartoons interact with the human characters more convincingly, but they are truly an accomplishment.

I'm reminded of the other truly impressive CG accomplishment this summer (and the other summer tentpole I've bothered to go see), Favreau's The Jungle Book. Both are made by teams that are perhaps too reverential toward their source material. There's something very different in how that reverence is performed, though. I have somehwere I might go with this thought, but it's a little flimsy right now, so I'll leave it there for the time being. So now I'll just say that when I left The Jungle Book, I was mostly thinking about the visual marvels. When I left Warcraft, I was mostly thinking about the characters.

(By the way, Ramin Djawadi's score is pretty good if a little repetitive. I kept expecting the score to give way to the song from Warcraft II's title screen, since it seemed to be gesturing in that direction. Alas.)

[Morris Schæffer]

Lol you're right. That's two deus ex machina resolutions in 1 film! How did I forget about that? All the more reason why Return of the King is the worst.

Did...did you just lol me?!

It's a 3 hour movie, I can ignore 1 or 2 missteps.

[Dukefrukem]

Sequel less likely now that it will still lose money.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...-avoids-910268

[TGM]

Sequel less likely now that it will still lose money.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...-avoids-910268

That's a shame.

[Dukefrukem]

Full disclosure: There was a period in 2006 where I sunk a considerable amount of time into World of Warcraft.

I rather enjoyed this quite a bit. Way more than what I was expecting. I kinda like how subtle there were about most of the lore. More than I was expecting. But I didn't think it was that difficult to follow. And I dont think my time spent with the game enhanced my viewing pleasure. So I recognized certain places. I still had never heard of a Guardian before or his purpose.

Has a sequel been greenlit?

[Skitch]

Great write up Syco! Even though it seems you didnt like it.

I have never played Warcraft, yet I still want to see this. Maybe its Duncan Jones, or the genre, either way I hope it comes to Netflix.