I guarantee you, this roundup of the blogosphere’s commentary on the Mists of Pandaria cinematic will have at least one idea, thought or piece of analysis that has never occurred to you.
Yes, the Pandaria cinematic is out, and the blogosphere’s been talking it over from all angles. There are so, so many fascinating points of view coming out of one four minute video – let’s go!
- Erinys discovers an unexpected echo of classic pulp literature in the cinematic, which she argues is extremely similar to 1912 novel “The Lost World” – “A huge spread of shoulders and a chest like a barrel were the other parts of him which appeared above the table, save for two enormous hands covered with long black hair. This and a bellowing, roaring, rumbling voice made up my first impression of the notorious Professor Challenger “
- Shintar looks at the competition, contrasting the MoP trailer with SWTOR’s cinematics – “In comparison, the story in “Hope” is very low key. The trailer can do its job perfectly fine without you ever knowing more about the characters than “this is a trooper”, “this is a Jedi” and “this is a bad guy with a really scarred face”. “
- 35 Yards has a unique way to watch the MoP (and other WoW) trailers – in Mandarin Chinese!
- Flosch looks at the MoP trailer, and wonders if what it’s saying is that MoP is Kung Fu Panda after all – “No, the reason I saw Kung Fu Panda in that trailer was a very specific scene. Remember the scene where unnamed Panda #1 returns the decorative headpiece to its original place… then realizes it’s slightly askew and adjusts it with his staff?”
- Azuriel thinks that the Kung Fu Pandaness of the trailer may have given WoW, and WoW players, a serious image problem – ” I am also acutely aware that MoP is going to be fighting an image battle for its entire duration, regardless of the merits of the actual game itself. And more to the point, people playing MoP are going to be the ones fighting that image battle alone, if this cinematic trailer is any indication. “
- Typhoon Andrew enjoyed the trailer, but felt that it wasn’t War-like enough – ” If I understand a little of the backdrop story in Mists of Pandaria, the Horde and Alliance are returning to truly hating each other. If so, then show us that hatred. Give the orc the spear…right through the front of his chest.”
- Rayze feels that Blizzard completely succeeded in introducing the Pandaren – “In only a couple of minutes Blizzard managed to clearly put across the main points of at least what the Pandaren fight for, what are their motives and why should we like them, giving them some needed depth to the eyes of a casual observer.”
- Klepsacovic found himself somewhat confused – “And now… who is the enemy? The panda? He does seem to be what we fight. And against the panda we are helpless. Utterly helpless. Two of the three core races (nelfs as third) are in a hopeless fight for survival in an unknown world, a world manufactured entirely for the pandas, and the pandas rule here.”
- Rohan felt the cinematic was technically adept, but lacked a certain weight – “The video sends somewhat mixed messages about the Pandaren. Are the Horde and Alliance uniting against the Pandaren? “
- Clockwork analyses the video scene by scene, looking at the cliches, the storytelling and the cultural implications – “So in one small scene we’ve shown the Alliance/Horde that their war is pointless, that the pandas can show them the way, that THIS panda is badass and cares about restoration, AND that the Horde/Alliance should put down their weapons.”
- Big Bear Butt showed the cinematic to his son, of course – and then every other Blizzard cinematic ever too – “Alex watched as I reviewed the Rage of the Firelands patch trailer, and he freaked. He has now watched that trailer probably 5 times, and he can’t stop gushing about it.”
- Reliq put together a great gallery of his picks for still shots from the cinematic
- Rades takes a look at the cinematic with an artist and lorekeeper’s eye – “But the orc in the trailer? That guy was awesome! He was massive and muscular, but in a lean, lanky, feral way. He looked strong AND fast, like a hunting cat or a honed predator.”
Your turn – what did you spot about the cinematic that everyone seems to be missing?
