Warcraft (12A.)
Directed by Duncan Jones.
Starring Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Ben Schnetzer, Toby Kebbell and Dominic Cooper. 123 mins
Films of games have consistently disappointed; and really, why wouldn't they? If you adapt a book, or a play or a musical into a motion picture there is obvious scope for something to be added to the original creation. Filming something where the chief joy is your participation in it, doesn't make sense – it's like having a skillfully crafted model of a chess set. This film version of the wildly popular role playing and strategy game Warcraft gets closer to the gaming experience than most: in the game ordinary people get to play act at being characters in a Tolkien novel, and in the film various small to medium name actors get to indulge their fantasy of being a Knighted British Thespian, or Viggo Mortenson, in a big screen Tolkien adaptation.
I'm sure the game provides an in-depth mythology for players to get lost in, but on screen it's as rich and full as an Iron Maiden album cover. It's a tinpot creation made up of bits nicked from Lord of the Rings and Avatar, that feels like it might have taken half hour to sketch out. There are Orcs and Dwarves, a bearded magician, big battles, nobles kings and not a single original thought or idea.
Some of the effects are impressive; the Orcs, great big musclebound trolls that resemble upright boars playing at being vikings, are beautifully rendered. The opening five minutes are great and whenever there is a big, wide shot or landscape the 3D is impressive. In the interiors though it is blurry and headache inducing. What's the point of making a poor man's Lord of the Rings when we already have the Hobbit trilogy?
Directed by Duncan Jones.
Starring Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Ben Schnetzer, Toby Kebbell and Dominic Cooper. 123 mins
Films of games have consistently disappointed; and really, why wouldn't they? If you adapt a book, or a play or a musical into a motion picture there is obvious scope for something to be added to the original creation. Filming something where the chief joy is your participation in it, doesn't make sense – it's like having a skillfully crafted model of a chess set. This film version of the wildly popular role playing and strategy game Warcraft gets closer to the gaming experience than most: in the game ordinary people get to play act at being characters in a Tolkien novel, and in the film various small to medium name actors get to indulge their fantasy of being a Knighted British Thespian, or Viggo Mortenson, in a big screen Tolkien adaptation.
I'm sure the game provides an in-depth mythology for players to get lost in, but on screen it's as rich and full as an Iron Maiden album cover. It's a tinpot creation made up of bits nicked from Lord of the Rings and Avatar, that feels like it might have taken half hour to sketch out. There are Orcs and Dwarves, a bearded magician, big battles, nobles kings and not a single original thought or idea.
Some of the effects are impressive; the Orcs, great big musclebound trolls that resemble upright boars playing at being vikings, are beautifully rendered. The opening five minutes are great and whenever there is a big, wide shot or landscape the 3D is impressive. In the interiors though it is blurry and headache inducing. What's the point of making a poor man's Lord of the Rings when we already have the Hobbit trilogy?
