I thought the exact same thing after I watched it. Sadly, that same thought made me especially excited for the sequel.... that never came.

I understand why they did it, but there's just too much to absorb. I was a fan, and although I recognized some of the names, I wasn't familiar with any of the characters besides Gul'dan.

The entire first movie should have been a 5-10 minute exposition. "It's been X years since we came through the portal..." And instead we follow Thrall and Grom, and Uther while two factions battle for dominance! (and it's been a while, so I forget what all happens in Warcraft 2)

Now that I've typed it all out, I've decided that if they could only make one Warcraft movie, but I got to pick which era, it would definitely be Arthas and the Lich King. That's a good story.