Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Warcraft
STARRING: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Toby Kebbell
DIRECTOR: Duncan Jones
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: PG-15
123 mins
It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed so much at a movie. Unfortunately for Warcraft, it isn’t styled or intended as a comedy in the slightest.
It’s been a while since the definitive list of ‘so bad it’s good’ films had a new contender, but this entrant is certainly deserving of its welcome pass. I had an absolute blast watching it, almost entirely for the wrong reasons, of course, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless.
Warcraft is a cinematic adaption of the popular gaming series, most recognised for the World of Warcraft online phenomenon which I’d wager even the mums, dads and retired expats reading this will have heard of.
On the face of it, the story is simple. Humans are living peacefully in the world of Azeroth, their civilisation pretty self-contained aside from occasional meetings with elves, dwarves and other fantasy folk who mill about on the fringes of their towns and cities.
One day, the world is invaded by an army of orcs, a fierce race fleeing their dying world of Draenor to inhabit another. Led by Durotan (Kebbell), they plunder the human villages out of desperation, before the human side led by Anduin Lothar (Fimmel) resists them.
As is usual these days, a far greater power exists that is the true big bad evil, and the two eventually must unite and repel the dark forces for the sake of their land, people and families.
Dig a bit deeper though, and one could interpret the story as a metaphor for the current refugee crisis in Europe and Islamophobia in the West.
The population of Azeroth, at least as we see it, is predominantly human and ubiquitously white aside from the smattering of other races who barely get any screen time other than to flex the costume and make-up designer’s muscles.
This most European of medieval realms being invaded by foreign, primitive, darker skinned hordes (which is, funnily enough, actually called the Horde) immediately sets off alarm bells in this age of immigration anxiety and fear of losing cultural identity.
Unfortunately, director Duncan Jones never takes the time to emphasise whether he’s satirising the modern world and its lack of compassion, or whether he’s producing a piece of pro-Trump, anti-EU propaganda.
The humans are, thankfully, too busy trying to stave off these poor creatures in desperate need for a new home to drop in a scene of a builder complaining that the orcs are here to steal his job and share of state benefits, but it wouldn’t stray too far from the tone of the film, or be a surprise, if there was.
The laughs keep on coming throughout, all unintentional, of course. Performances are mediocre, no thanks to the orcs being entirely CGI. The poor human actors had to spend the majority of their filming in front of a green screen talking to a ping pong ball on a stick, resulting in them often looking at their counterpart’s bulging chests or elaborate ponytail instead of their eyes.
The writing is full of tropes too. There ends up being a half-human, half-orc femme fatale plot twist that Stevie Wonder could see coming, and having Durotan’s skin several shades lighter than the rest of his bloodthirsty and altogether more malicious minions is as cringe-worthy as it is unwise.
Most hilarious is the editing and cinematography. Both the orcs and humans speak real-life English throughout, but the movie attempts to persuade us that the orcs are speaking their own language that the humans can’t understand. It’s such a clunky and clumsy facet of the film that I’m amazed made it through the first draft.
I’m glad they didn’t though, as a scene between two characters speaking the same language but not understanding each other might just have been the most ridiculously comical scene I’ve witnessed as a film fan.
For those who have no interest in fantasy films, Warcraft isn’t for you. For those who are looking for the next Lord of the Rings, this isn’t it either. The visuals are pretty, sure, but there is no reason to care about it like we did for the idyllic Shire or the architectural majesty of Gondor. Those who had high expectations for the film to break the videogame-to-movie curse will be sadly disappointed too.
But for those, like me, who enjoy things that are terrible and find unintentional humour some of the funniest, then it’s one of the greatest films you’ll see all year. I came out grinning from ear-to-ear and it was the best two hours I’d spent all week.
The movie is tagged as ‘The Beginning’ and the entire ending is essentially a set-up for a sequel. However, I get the feeling that all 12 million of the subscribers to World of Warcraft at its peak will have to pay to see this, and multiple times over, for it to become a reality.
I’ll be first in line if it does, though.
Showing in Novo Cinemas, Cineco, Seef II, Saar, Al Jazira, Wadi Al Sail, Dana Cineplex
Rating: 4/5
