Story
Durotan (Tobey Kebbell), orc chieftain of the Frostwolf clan, and his heavily pregnant partner Draka (Anna Galvin) want to escape from their dying world to a better life on the human world of Azeroth. The orc clans come together to form the Horde, and the evil orc warlock Gul’dan (Daniel Wu) intends to uses evil and dangerous magic to open a gateway that will allow the invading orcs to pour through to Azeroth.
Meanwhile in the kingdom of Stormwind, King Liane (Dominic Cooper) orders Commander Lothar (Travis Fimmel) and Khadger (Ben Schnetzer) to summon the Guardian Medivh (Ben Foster). Medivh goes with Lothar and Khadger on a mission to capture an orc to interrogate.
Lothar captures a half-orc, half-human woman named Garona (Paula Patton), and he and the King gain Garona’s confidence. They learn that the orcs are capturing human prisoners, whom they intend to use as fuel to power the magic that can open the gateway to Azeroth.
Garona leads Lothar and Medivh to the orc encampment to investigate the gateway. While spying on the orc encampment, Garona is approached by Durotan who requests a meeting with King Liane. Durotan tells King Liane that the fate that has befallen the orc world will happen to Azeroth if they don’t stop Gul’dan.
Themes
War; alien invasion; the supernatural; death of a planet
Violence
Warcraft: The Beginning has extended sequences of intense and often brutal fantasy violence, some gun-related violence, and some images that show blood and gore. For example:
Sexual references
Warcraft: The Beginning has occasional low-level sexual references. For example, a half-orc, half-human woman tells a man that another man wishes to lie with her. She says that the man will be hurt if he lies with her. She then says that she doesn’t know how humans survive with such brittle bones and no muscles. When asked how she survived such things (with the orcs), she says that broken bones heal stronger and she has very strong bones.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Warcraft: The Beginning shows some use of substances. For example:
- An orc woman is given a drink to ‘warm her up’. She takes a tentative sip and then gulps the drink down.
- A man who has just witnessed the death of his son sits at a table holding a mug and then drinks the contents.
Nudity and sexual activity
There is some nudity and sexual activity in Warcraft: The Beginning. For example:
- There are several images of the naked stomach of a pregnant female orc and her orc partner massaging her stomach.
- Women dress in revealing clothing.
- Characters kiss each other.
Product placement
There is no product placement in Warcraft: The Beginning, but the movie is associated with the Warcraft video games.
Coarse language
Warcraft: The Beginning has some coarse language, mainly insults.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Warcraft: The Beginning is a fantasy action adventure movie based on a popular video game. It targets teenage and adult fans of the game.
The movie contains some positive messages about diverse groups working together for the common good. But it has conflicting messages too, because these same groups will forever be at war with each other. The movie also shows violence as necessary to keeping the peace.
This movie deserves its M rating. There is frequent brutal violence and many disturbing scenes and characters. We don’t recommend it for viewers under 15 years.