WarCraft

What standards does a movie have to meet to be good? The first thing a Biblical Christian would say is that it can’t consistently reinforce any messages that run contrary to the Bible, and that it can’t have gratuitous sex, nudity, profanity, or offensive violence. And I agree that a movie has to meet those standards to be good, but I would add that just because a movie meets those standards doesn’t make it good.

Take “Warcraft” for instance. It’s a pretty clean movie. Come to think of it, it’s probably one of the cleaner movies I’ve seen in a long time, other than the violence. The only bad language is one use of b*stard and hell, and the only thing sexual in nature is a wholesome scene in which an orc lovingly strokes his wife’s pregnant belly, plus some cleavage and shirtless males.

There are some pretty intense battle sequences, but the violence doesn’t reach the levels of extreme because there is barely any blood. Most of the stabbings and deaths are offscreen, and on the few occasions when anything more is shown, it’s done to an orc (thus making it less disturbing than if it was done to a human). I’ve never played the video game, but I hear it’s more violent than the movie.

For teens on up, there’s barely anything to worry about, except this: Is the movie worth your time? Personally, just staying awake through this film was drudgery for me. It really tries to tell a story with good dialog, but there is nothing original about the plot. It’s just another war between humans and fantasy creatures. The orcs aren’t really scary, but they are unpleasantly ugly.

To be fair, there are some positive messages to be drawn from the film about living in peace. There is also a (sort-of?) sacrifice at the end, although it comes with questionable messages about war and killing. Some Christians may also want to be aware that fantasy magic is used.

While good does win over evil, this film has nothing new or thought-provoking to offer. It’s more eye candy than anything else. And on that note, I WAS impressed with the CGI. The movement, talking, and special effects are very believable. But watching this movie felt like wasting two hours straight playing a video game. Hmmm, I wonder why?

I guess I could recommend this film to fans of the video game. They’ll probably enjoy seeing the animated figures come to life in a movie plot. But it will probably be an insult to general fantasy film fans, who know a good fantasy film when they see it. “The Fellowship of the Ring,” anyone?

Violence: Very Heavy / Profanity: Minor / Sex/Nudity: Moderate

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.