Warcraft is, on every level, a disappointment, especially since you see what he’s trying to do — the kind of man-woman parity he’s aiming for, mostly unseen in a film of this scale — but then you see, frustratingly enough, that the film itself is a mediocre casing for any grand idea or deft nuance. It’s mostly swallowed up by badly mumbled gibberish, like the villain in the climax chanting what sounds (a lot) like saying Eddie Izzard’s name over and over again.

Warcraft is joyous fun. It might be cluttered and overwhelming at times, there is no denying that it is a film made with love. It is unafraid to be nerdy, it laughs in the face of mockery. It embraces its goofiness. When it beckons you to join in on the fun, let it.

This dreadfully boring film ends with the hope of a sequel. It’s time to introduce the makers to John Lennon. ‘Make love, not war…’

Watch it once. It deserves that at least. Who knows, you might have a different opinion of how it should have ended…

Overall, Warcraft has nothing new and exciting to offer in terms of cinematic quality. Even the visuals and effects, though remarkable in bits, aren’t enough to make you sit through. A lot of it also looks all too familiar to Harry Potter, The Lord Of The Rings and Game Of Thrones. Two moments of witty banter do get you to chuckle but it’s not worth the ticket price, for gaming enthusiasts or otherwise.

Most of the scene transitions are off. This ends up affecting the narration, which already had nothing to boast about with its mediocre plot. Just over two hours, the film doesn’t have any humour element. It is sad that the sublime efforts gone into post production were in vain due to its disappointing overall end result as a story.

Warcraft is clearly a 3D fantasy adventure designed to appeal to fans of the novels and computer game series. For those unfamiliar with the worlds and wars within, let’s just say Warcraft the movie is striving to be The Lord Of The Rings meets Game Of Thrones, but falls way short of its ambition.

I’m all for video games being turned into movies, but Warcraft lacks the depth and richness of literature.

The movie’s strength lies in Jones’ earnestness and his ability to add heart and grit to, let’s face it, a story that we’ve seen over and over in fantasy films across the ages. That said, Warcraft is a welcome change from all the superheroes in spandex and capes that we’ve been inundated with since the beginning of the year. Not since the last Hobbit film have fantasy genre fans had anything significant to really sink their teeth into. And hopefully, Warcraft, in its promised sequels, will rise up to that challenge. (Someone also hand them the diversity handbook, please.)

Apart from fans of the popular video game World of Warcraft, the movie Warcraft is also of interest to two other sets of viewers: those who have been missing their regular dose of orcs, dwarves, wizards and kingdoms caught between sorcery and normalcy, and fans of Duncan Jones.

Overall, Warcraft does not match real-life expectations, but would definitely appeal to its fans.