C’MON HOLLYWOOD: Give us Sam Raimi’s Warcraft next!

…give us WARCRAFT next Raimi!
by J.A. Hamilton

Thus far the new year hasn’t been kind with news like last week’s Spider-Man column and I’m not too keen on the CONAN news either but we’ll save that for later as more details emerge. So what I need is some good news and I have just the push for that direction. Sam Raimi may have made an enemy or two with SPIDER-MAN 3 but he was soon forgiven after this past summer’s DRAG ME TO HELL. Well I say let’s keep going on a high note straight into the live action WARCRAFT movie. Raimi knows his stuff, and after successfully delivering on the horror goods, the comic book goods and even the western goods (THE QUICK AND THE DEAD if you didn’t know), I’m confident he can tackle the world of Azeroth.

WARCRAFT 3 is the perfect place to start

For those of you unfamiliar with WARCRAFT I’ll try to sum it up as briefly and accurately as possible. There are two factions at war: THE HORDE, consisting mostly of refined Orcs, Undead and Blood Elves and then THE ALLIANCE, consisting mostly of Humans, Night Elves and Dwarfs. There is hours of lore, religion and history fueling this feud creating an endless supply of direction for adventure. Add to that; castles, dungeons, magic and an unprecedented character design system with mind blowing weapons and armor that may very well set a new standard for Fantasy movies if done correctly, and that’s just the icing on the cake.

You can’t go wrong with Arthas

When I originally read that the storyline would be centered upon the Alliance faction I was a tad disappointed (considering I’ve always played on the Horde side), but in retrospect it makes sense as newcomers will relate to humans and their struggles more so than Orcs or Undead (sorry Thrall). Now I say open up with a historical monologue like the initial WORLD OF WARCRAFT game does explaining the situation on an easy level leading into a nice bit of all out action like the intro to FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. Then I’d like to see them go straight into the war from the perspective of my favorite character Arthas Menethil, Prince of Lordaeron and Knight of Silver Hand. Arthas is the perfect anti-hero and his story will not disappoint.

Illidan is one of many badass characters

To do this Raimi would be smart to follow the storyline of WARCRAFT 3, which would be fine as the first two games didn’t really go into much detail story wise. With the lands at war Arthas will do anything to protect his people, and when the battle looks it’s bleakest, a desperate Arthas takes up a journey to find the cursed blade known as Frostmourne. This is a powerfully compelling storyline and would also give them the opportunity of explaining Lady Sylvanas Windrunner’s fall to darkness and even introduce Illidan Stormrage for a sequel down the road. The games have provided us with rich characters and emotionally driven plots that will pull audiences in by the boatload. But again, attention to detail is key.

Frostmourne hungers…

Blizzard Entertainment created an intensely immersive world in WARCRAFT. Sure, these games aren’t for everyone and I don’t need to remind or be reminded of how well game to movie translations usually go, but I can’t see Blizzard not attaching a straightforward (and explicitly specific clause) in Raimi’s contract stipulating that they reserve the right to final say on the script (as well as the right to sell his wife and kids into slavery if he f*cks it up). At the end of the day I trust Blizzard and I have faith in Raimi’s skills, so with that said WARCRAFT is a surefire way for Raimi to jump back into a tent pole series that by all means is ripe with potential. The games cover hours of storyline and as a result some fans won’t be satisfied no matter what, but if Raimi puts his thinking cap on and commits to this full throttle, we’ll be in for one hell of a ride.