Though the widely known and loved Warcraft still manages to capture the hearts and countless hours of many new players two decades after its release, the original 1994 game – 'Warcraft: Orcs & Humans' – had far from humble beginnings with over 1,000,000 copies sold; it was so popular they even released it on Mac (two years later).
It is this original game that provides the narrative platform for the new blockbuster film 'Warcraft: The Beginning', giving old-school fans a subtle nod and leaving a franchise ripe for the picking.
Original Warcraft video game
Travis Fimmel – of TV's 'Vikings' – may be the brightest star and hero of the film, but the supporting cast is not to be taken lightly, especially now having received extensive weapons training on set. British veteran Dominic Cooper has played an impressive array of roles, from Iron Man's dad, Howard Stark, to Saddam Hussein's son, Uday. He can now add a king to that list. “I loved that the script wasn’t simply good versus evil. Essentially, it’s about displaced people looking for a new land.
“It asks, ‘Who does this land belong to? Who is in the right?’ But the more you learn, the more you question yourself. Is there a fairer way to achieve happiness for all? It’s a game of chess and, for Llane, it’s about constantly manoeuvring yourself into a position that supports your kingdom in the best way possible.”
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Up and coming Irish-Ethiopian actress Ruth Negga is Dominic Cooper's real-life partner, and his on-screen queen Taria. “At first glance, this is quite a traditional, patriarchal society but, on closer inspection, it’s actually a partnership,” Ruth says. “They rule as a duo. Maybe not in name, but definitely in practice. The king relies on her opinion and her intuition. I feel like she is an inverse Lady Macbeth.”
If you've got a keen eye and a sharp memory, you may have noticed Paula Patton in Tony Scott's 'Deja Vu' back in 2006. If not, then her unforgettable role as Ms Rain in 'Precious' will be an easy recall. An LA native, who is also a keen filmmaker herself, Patton says of her role as half-breed Garona: “It shakes up our ideas that the orcs are not all bad and the humans are not all good; that there’s an in-between, which was unique.
“Then you have Garona, who has one foot in each world. She’s a fierce and a strong warrior, and that’s always something exciting for a woman to be able to play. But more than that, she’s vulnerable and feminine, and she’s starting to see and feel new things; she goes through many changes in the movie.”
Travis Fimmel
Though he was born and raised in California, and has been acting for over 15 years, Daniel Wu is a relative newcomer to western cinema and had some doubts about his role as aging shaman Gul'dan. “I said to Duncan [Jones, film's director]: ‘This is supposed to be a really old orc. Why are you casting a much younger guy?’ He said: ‘It’s the physicality. If we cast someone age-appropriate, they probably wouldn’t be able to manage the physical side of the role.'
“Once I got into orc training camp, I realised what he was talking about, because my character is basically in a squat throughout almost the entire film. So the first two weeks were quite painful. I grew out of all the pants that I brought to Vancouver, because my thighs and butt got so much bigger and more muscular. It was a wonderful process, and to be able to do it with the other actors playing the orcs was a great bonding experience.”
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The film's director, Duncan Jones, was chosen due to his experience in creating his own worlds within his previous films ('Moon' and 'Source Code'). “If you’re a player of the game, you know that part of its appeal is that you can be a hero, no matter what side you’re on,” Duncan says. “So my pitch was that the film should mirror that; it should be a war movie, one which shows the heroes on both sides and treats them with equal respect.”
But every director knows that if something looks bad, it will be experienced as such, a feeling which can often be derived from the simplest of things. “Everything in this film is completely dependent on the orcs being believable. When you have those actors in silver leotards covered in ping-pong balls, and you’re hoping that it’s going to feel like a real character at the end of it, you get nervous. So when ILM[Industrial Light & Magic] delivered those preliminary studies on what the orcs were going to look like, it was a huge relief.”
Producer Stuart Fenegan, himself a passionate player from the beginning of the Warcraft franchise, has partnered with Duncan Jones for many years, since their days together in the commercials industry. Stuart offers why he believes the source material is so powerful and has such epic film potential. “One of the most amazing things about 'Warcraft' is the fact that it’s not a linear game in which you are forced to play a particular character. You have this sense of community, and I feel that’s why it exploded and went so huge all over the world.
“You have this opportunity to create your own character; you step into this environment but instead of interacting with computer-generated, non-player characters, you have this social experience with people from all over the continent in which you’re playing.”
'Warcraft: The Beginning' is released nationally 16 June.
