Jones ‘Warcraft’ a visual spectacle – Hocus pocus of ‘Now You See Me 2’ wears thin

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So it may take a while for non-gamers to figure out who’s who in the battle of orcs and humans at the center of the “Warcraft “ film, which complicates an already dense mythology. Once it becomes clear that there’s a civil war within the orc race about whether to eliminate or align with the humans, the big-screen adaptation from director and co-writer Duncan Jones is a little easier to understand.

For anyone unfamiliar with the fantasy game’s characters and story lines, “Warcraft” is little more than eye candy, a visual spectacle with a backbone of well-trod genre tropes. There’s just no way to become as invested during a two-hour movie as a gamer who’s spent years, maybe even decades, immersed in the rituals and traditions of the worlds of “Warcraft.”

Plus, the humanoid orcs rely on so much digital animation to come alive that at times the whole movie looks like a video game, which obviously suits the material here but can still take a little getting used to visually. (This critic’s screening was in IMAX 3-D.) And it is certainly a spectacle, with elaborate castles, armies of angry orcs and a villain who dramatically sucks the life from his victims, leaving them shriveled and deformed.

Voiceover at the start of the film explains that humans and orcs have been at war for ages. The orc planet is dying, so they’re out to colonize new territory, which they access when their ruler, Gul’dan (Daniel Wu), uses his powers to open a magic portal. The escaping orc clans storm in and kill everything. One clan leader, Durotan (Toby Kebbell), is a rebel. He questions Gul’dan’s destructive approach and suspects he may be relying on evil forces, which, of course, he is.

Orcs are invading the world of Azeroth when the leader of the humans, King Llane (Dominic Cooper), gets word of their imminent arrival. He turns to his top warrior, commander of Azeroth’s military forces Lothar (a smoldering Travis Fimmel), and top wizard, Guardian Medivh (Ben Foster), controller of Azeroth’s magical powers.

They capture an orc-human hybrid, Garona (Paula Patton wearing disturbing prosthetic teeth), who serves as a bridge between the two species — and instantly catches Lothar’s romantic eye.

Meanwhile, young magician Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer) endears himself to the operation when he discovers evidence of an evil force lurking in the human kingdom.

Containing this powerful energy is ultimately the theme of film, as it is of so many fantasy, superhero and sci-fi stories. It’s like the Force or the Ring or the Infinity Gauntlet or the Allspark. Only the force in “Warcraft,” called “the fell,” is purely wicked, so evil it can consume the good — perhaps an allusion to Biblical notions of “the fall.”

The “Warcraft” mythology is extensive and rich, as it would have to be to sustain five video games and a series of novels. That’s a lot of lore to pack into one movie, though this film is clearly set up for a sequel should the audience demand it.

Without the franchise backstory, “Warcraft” is a big-budget fantasy-action film with lots of large-scale, epic fight scenes between Mr. Olympia-sized aliens and regular humans. When an orc throws a horse at one point, it’s almost more painful than when a character dies, since the moviegoer’s connection with the characters is so superficial.

As escapist summer fare, “Warcraft” works because the action is ample and the orcs look cool, with pierced tusks and spiked armor evoking a “Mad Max” aesthetic, even if it isn’t always easy to tell them apart.

“Warcraft,” a Legendary Pictures release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for “extended sequences of intense fantasy violence.” Running time: 123 minutes. Two stars out of four.

The magician heist movie “Now You See Me 2” disappears with not a poof, but in a hyper-kinetic blur of hectic plot mechanics, ceaselessly nattering characters and so many ploys of misdirection that the film’s own direction got lost up someone’s sleeve long ago. Now you see it, now you don’t. Did you care that you saw it? Why did you see it, anyway? Is that why you look like you need a nap?

Yet the cast is one reason to catch Jon M. Chu’s sequel to the surprise 2013 hit. It’s an odd assortment but a talented one that includes Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. They don’t get the chance to sink their teeth into anything much but in the summertime, you usually need to buy a ticket to a superhero movie for such an ensemble.

And there’s something almost quaint about the two “Now You See Me” films. They are diverting and harmless and the fate of the world, pleasantly, does not hang in the balance. They’re perfect for fans of “Ocean’s Eleven” that are looking for weaker filmmaking, a little less star power and a whole lot more playing cards.

Hiding

In “Now You See Me 2,” the Four Horsemen, having gone into hiding following their Las Vegas exploits of the first film, return. They’re a group of magicians led — curiously, given the alternatives — by Jesse Eisenberg’s slight-of-hand artist. The others are Harrelson’s hypnotist, Dave Franco’s street magician and a new addition played by Lizzy Caplan (replacing Isla Fisher) whose sarcastic flare steals the movie.

The Horsemen are like a fantasy dreamed by David Copperfield, a co-producer whose show inspired the films. When not trying to one-up each other’s tricks, the Horsemen perform feats of illusion that unmask real corruption. In the world of “Now You See Me,” they are extravagantly (and bizarrely) famous, cheered by mobs on the streets and pursued in vain by the feds (Ruffalo plays the lead agent).

In “Now You See Me 2,” their flashy return is spoiled by a wealthy tech whiz in hiding (Daniel Radcliffe), who constructs an elaborate revenge against the magicians that transports them around the globe to Macau, presumably for the purpose of drawing in Chinese moviegoers.

The movie, scripted by Ed Solomon, is such a constant barrage of absurdly implausible tricks, followed by explanations of how they were done, that “Now You See Me 2” feels like the work of a feverish, manic magician who can’t stop pulling rabbits out of hats. Chu, a veteran of multiple Justin Bieber documentaries and several “Step Up” films, cracks up the pace and never holds a shot much longer than a second. And when everything is a manipulation — one illusion after another — nothing comes as a surprise.

It feels like a lost opportunity because both “Now You See Me” films have a pleasant enough preposterousness. It’s hard to dislike a movie that adds a curly-haired evil twin brother for Woody Harrelson.

But magic always feels a little redundant in the movies. By itself, cinema is a grand magic act that never gives away its tricks (well, except for director commentaries on DVDs). Maybe that’s why “Now You See Me 2” can’t slow down. It knows it’s always being upstaged by the hocus pocus of its own medium.

“Now You See Me 2,” a Summit Entertainment release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for “violence and some language.” Running time: 126 minutes. Two stars out of four. (AP)

By Sandy Cohen

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