Quite why anyone thought releasing a World Of Warcraft movie now when the game's community is firmly in decline and mainstream awareness is similarly low is anyone's guess. But it's here, it's big and bold and we've all got to deal with it. With the film set for release next summer, it's just received it's first trailer... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rxoz13Bthc Now, that looks pretty spectacular and there's no way it's going to look anything but beautiful all the way through, but there's something a little flawed with the substance. Perhaps it's because of the heavy (and inevitable) reliance on CGI, or the attempt at selling a human narrative element with giant, fanged orcs, but it has too much of a super-real feeling to it. There's definitely a sense that director Duncan Jones is taking a lead from the way Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit staged battle scenes and heaped importance on spectacle and tight relationships. And in the warring clans element, you can see genetic similarities with Avatar. Is this the right approach for this movie? Who knows, frankly. They've hired a great director, they have a rich world to work from, undoubtedly, but can they really count on the kind of mainstream audience needed to bring in enough money to make their apparently planned series a reality? Will anyone ever be able to get over the fact that it all boils down to that much-parodied online game that nerds play? That's the mainstream image of the brand, no matter how you want to spin it. So, all in all a confusing trailer. It packs in some punches and it's technically very impressive in some regards, but some of that CG is too iffy for a film so reliant on it, and it's going to be a hard sell even if they get over that fact. What do you think of the Warcraft trailer? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.
