How About That Trailer? - Warcraft

Warcraft is coming this summer and while I have no real connection with the popular Blizzard video game franchise, aside from general acknowledgement that it exists and is wildly popular, I would really like it to be good. Director Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) has earned plenty of good faith from me and the film has certainly had the time and the money spent to come up with something good, but can it be good? That's something I don't really know if I can be completely optimistic about.

I've made a point of talking about this year's potential for video game movies, but I've always continued to point out how this sub-genre has soured me when it comes to getting excited. Warcraft has potential and I'm more intrigued based on the balance being given to both the human side of things and the orcs. The problem is establishing a proper hook for this film that should get me more interested.

At its best, these Warcraft trailers establish that money has been spent in the right places to get the look right and appear to be at least better than just an extended cut scene from the games. The action looks fun and fluid and the detail on the orcs is pretty solid. That said, I still don't know what to expect from the actual story and the human performances. 

It may too much to expect a real compelling drama, but why not? It's a video game adaptation of an epic game series. That's a question that dives deeper into the nature of these types of movie adaptations, but suffice it to say the film should not try to limit itself if it doesn't have to. For the time being, Warcraft looks generic but fun. I hope there's more going on, but we'll have to wait and see.

Warcraft hits theaters June 10, 2016.