Duncan Jones‘ upcoming Warcraft film will have a well established audience waiting for it upon release; formed predominantly from fans of Blizzard’s iconic series of games, maybe a few curious Jones appreciators wanting to see what the Moon and Source Code director will do next, no doubt many genre addicts. What Legendary Pictures has to do now is convince everyone else to come see their high-budget epic fantasy series come to life.
Today sees the first footage from the film hit the internet, and it looks to be aimed at the previously mentioned demographics. High on action, low on plot, the ten seconds or so of material is a whirlwind of violence and combat. This first instalment of the expected Warcraft trilogy will focus on the meeting of two of the games’ most prominent races; humans and orcs. With war in the air, the feature will portray both sides of the conflict, giving the orc horde its fair share of representation.
This large scale fantasy format cannot but bear a resemblance to Peter Jackson‘s intimidating adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Lord of the Rings series; with unfathomably large castles, battling eagles and vicious beasts in the dark, Warcraft does little to shirk these aesthetic similarities. Also, this early footage displays some flaws in the special effects of the project; the beautifully designed structures and landscapes look manufactured and without substance.
With the film being released in 3D it is hard to know how much of this will be ironed out with later post-production, and this is after all only a brief glimpse at the world of Azeroth. Check out the footage and official synopsis after the break:
“The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens 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. So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something”.
Warcraft features Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper and Toby Kebbell, and will be released on June 10, 2016.
#Peace.Love.Azeroth
