As the release of the Warcraft movie draws closer, Legendary is continuing to bombard us with trailers and other marketing. This time they’ve set their eyes on individual character spotlights, Durotan, Lothar, Garona, Khadgar, and a sampling of the movie’s score with the Warcraft theme.
As of this moment I’m not sure if the flurry of activity is a good sign or a bad. To be fair, up until his point, all the marketing and even the trailers have fallen flat and into generic action category complete with thumping music. The complaint I’ve heard most often is it looks like a video game. Well, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it is based on a video game after all. Not everything can be recreated in the real world without liberal application of CG.
When the first trailer dropped back in November it gave us a glimpse of a larger story, but there were gaps. We had sweeping vistas, fantastical beasts, the perceived good vs evil. But what it didn’t tell you is that things aren’t so black and white, Gul’dan and Medivh were nowhere to be seen, and I’m sure very few people noticed or would even care there are two different colored orcs and what that may mean. Don’t get me started on the lack of magic, it comes to the fore in subsequent trailers but magic is a big part of the story they are telling and the world in general and, yet, there was nothing.
The first trailer needs to hook you, bring you in, scream in your face this is something you can’t miss and count all the reasons why this summer movie is one you must go see. This one missed the mark, all of them have missed the mark. I was excited, my friends that have played the games were excited but, like with a loved book that makes it to screen, I believe our brains filled in the gaps that just weren’t represented in the trailer.
Others I’ve talked to, ones that only played the RTS years ago and never World of Warcraft, or have never played any Blizzard game, were completely underwhelmed. It looked like generic fantasy action paint by numbers, something I heard more than once, almost as much as the complaint it looks too much like a video game. Nothing in it hooked them, made them want to see it and, without knowledge of the games, no one really understands the story past orcs vs humans. Which, ok, that works considering the name of the very first Warcraft and it is orcs vs humans. To a degree, and that is where the shades of grey come in.
The official synopsis:
The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilizations faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal open to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people, and their home.
The first trailer has been viewed over 21 million times. All subsequent trailers, considerably less so. They had the hype and the fan base, but I think all of that has been lost since November. Which may be why Legendary made four clips of the movie available internationally, you can see them below strung together in one video. I think they are trying to regain some of their initial momentum. It may be too little too late.
We finally see Medivh (Ben Foster), as he pummels Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer) with magic while Lothar (Travis Fimmel) watches in amusement.
A brutal scene featuring orcs destroying human knights as if they were made out of paper. We finally get to hear the battle cry LOK’TAR OGAR which made the horde in me extremely happy.
Next up is a scene with Garona (Paula Patton), in the human throne room with Lothar and King Llane (Dominic Cooper).
Finally Durotan (Toby Kebbel) and Orgrim (Robert Kazinsky) discuss the future of their people and we finally have mention of Gul’dan.
Warcraft hits theaters June 10.
Warcraft clips.
https://youtu.be/fP2Orqg3Zf4
DUROTAN: THE REBEL
Chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan, Durotan will do whatever it takes to find a home for his people.
LOTHAR: THE WARRIOR
Forged in the fire of battle, the brave knight Lothar has sacrificed everything to become defender of Azeroth.
GARONA: THE SURVIVOR
Gerona Halforcen is the unbroken survivor who will join Lothar and Durotan to save a world they all call home.
I really hope we get some of her story fleshed out on screen because, even with this character spotlight, we don’t know much about her unless you are familiar with the game lore.
KHADGAR: THE SEEKER
A rogue mage hungry for adventure, Khadgar uses his ever-growing powers to seek the truth behind the invasion of Azeroth.
The Warcraft theme by Ramin Djawadi. You may recognize him from things such as the Game of Thrones and the Pacific Rim soundtrack. Why they didn’t use this music for the trailers is question for the ages. It may have lent a sense of gravitas the current marketing is sorely lacking.
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