The 429th film I have seen in theaters…

FOR THE HORDE!

 

The Orcish Horde, led by the warlock Gul’dan, escape their dying world of Draenor via a dark portal, leading them to Azeroth, home of the humans, dwarves, and other races. Facing invasion, the humans of Stormwind band under their King, Llane Wrynn, and his trusted Lieutneant- Anduin Lothar, to defeat the threat. Meanwhile, The Orcish Frostwolf clan, led by Durotan, realize the evil which Gul’dan is leading them into, and attempt to form an Alliance with the humans to stop the war.

Travis Flimmel is Lothar. He does a decent job, but never seems to truly rise above the material given him.

Paula Patton is Garona Halforcen, half orc, half DRAENEI who fights for Stormwind.

Ben Foster shines as Medivh, the Guardian of Tirisfal and enemy to the Burning Legion. Best human character in the film. The Magic was so well done.

Dominic Cooper is predictably awesome as King Llane of Stormwind. Being a fan of the lore, his eventual end was sad, especially when he has the brief moment with young Varian, his son- who is dying in the new expansion of the game.

Toby Kebbell steals the show as Durotan, leader of the Frostwolves. Best character in the film. The CGI work was amazing.

Ben Schnetzer is the young Mage Khadgar, who discovers the threat. He is the second best Human in the film.

Daniel Wu, a huge star in Asia, plays Gul’dan, the Warlock that dooms his people and destroyed their home of Draenor. Playing a Warlock as my main, I love this character, and it was a treat to see him on screen- especially the early scenes of him before the Dark Portal in Hellfire Penninsula/Tanaan Jungle.

Robert Kazinsky is Ogrim Doomhammer! He will do amazingly well if the series continues. They don’t scream “For Doomhammer” for nothing.

The amazing Clancy Brown plays Blackhand, Warchief of the Horde! This man was born to be an orc!

Aside from the many other great performances, appearing here as Alodi, an ancient Guardian of Tirisfal, maybe lol. She was a He in the game, and an elf, so who knows.

In the end…this was not a bad movie. In fact, it was a pretty good movie. It’s biggest flaw was that the pacing of the story was WAY off. I suspect that this is primarily due to them cutting over 40 minutes from the film to get it under 2 hours. This was a mistake. Fantasy epics should be large sprawling affairs. The Orc performances were fantastic, better than the humans. The magic was perfect, they really nailed it, especially sheeping. I’d give this a 7/10 as a movie. 8/10 if you are a fan of the series. Meh, 8.5. I’ll award an extra 1/2 point for the inclusion of Murlocs.

Mmmrrrggglll Mmmrrrggglll!