You only have to look at Prime Video's "Fallout" TV show and "Arcane" Season 2, Netflix's long-awaited second season of "League of Legends" and HBO's "The Last Of Us" to see that times have changed

But long before these projects appeared, we had Duncan Jones' 2016 fantasy actioner based on Blizzard's "Warcraft" franchise The film was certainly not well received upon its release (29% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and was not a box office smash (it did not break even despite doing very well overseas)

"Warcraft," which recently appeared on Netflix, quickly took the #2 spot on Netflix's top 10 movies As a huge fantasy geek (and on-again/off-again with "World of Warcraft"), I have long had a fondness for this film If you've been put off by the film's poor reception, now is a great time to give it a second chance, and here's why you should give "Warcraft" another shot

The story of "Warcraft" is simple Gul'Dan, an orc shaman who has organized the orc clans into a "Horde," seeks out new worlds for them to settle Gul'Dan uses the magic of Fel to create a portal to a fantasy world called Azeroth, where he sends his strongest warriors

The races pass through the portal and begin to conquer this new world But a few dissenting orcs, sensing a more sinister plot at work, join forces with key figures on the human side and try to stop the true evil behind the war

In an interview with Business Insider, Jones explained that he was approached by franchise steward Blizzard to pitch this "warcraft" He is a big fan of the game and was on board with the idea of turning Blizzard's traditional movie into something closer in tone to the first Warcraft strategy game, showing heroes and villains on both sides of the human-orc war

This reverence gives the film a certain admirable quality While some film adaptations of lesser-known games feel like little more than an attempt to cash in on the IP, "Warcraft" is serious about bringing that world to a new medium The characters are clichéd, sometimes exchanging clichéd dialogue, but they are brought to life with sincerity Toby Kebbell, in particular, gives a genuine performance as the renegade orc, Durotan

Admittedly, the film's pacing is uneven in its attempt to pack in fanservice I enjoyed revisiting this world and it did a great job in the lore department and introduced me to a new canon of films It is a shame that audiences were not able to explore more of this "warcraft" world

Upon rewatching it for this article, I really expected to have to eat my words on the visual side, but honestly, this is still a good looking film and I think the visuals are a big part of it

With the heavy use of CGI, there was a good chance that "Warcraft" would look dated However, the team chose to stay true to the somewhat cartoonish style of "Warcraft," and the result is that it looks as beautiful as it does when orcs see it on the big screen

Sure, the live-action humans look a bit dumb in their relative, bulky suits of armor, but the franchise's stylistic obsession works very well on the orc side (which is already the more compelling side of the story, anyway)

The striking effects are not limited to character models and props If you have a voracious appetite for action, you'll love this one, as it features a number of well-directed, albeit mostly CGI, fight scenes

The magic is especially stunning One can almost instantly point out the moments when Fel's magic spills over into Karazhan, or the carnage that rings out on the battlefield as humans and orcs cross swords Of course, it's not always perfect, and in places the wide shots look a bit gamey, but you can admire the scale of what the filmmakers set out to achieve

"Warcraft" is by no means a perfect film, but I hope I have at least given you a solid basis for why it deserves a better reputation than it currently has, and now that it is streaming on Netflix, anyone, especially fantasy fans, should at least should give "Warcraft" a try

Still, I'm not convinced Upon the film's release, Tom's Guide sent two writers to see "Warcraft" and they both really liked it, one an avid fan and the other a franchise newbie If you don't think "Warcraft" is for you, check out this week's new Netflix arrivals or Netflix's best movies available for streaming right now