If you’re expecting great scriptwriting, complex character development and inventive story-telling, guess what, Warcraft: The Beginning may not be for you. Why you would expect that of a video game adaptation is puzzling to me, but moving on. If, like everyone else, you’re seduced by huge battles, amazing visuals, and heroic journeys, you’re in for a fun ride! Warcraft: The Beginning seems to appeal to a surprisingly wide demographic, not just fans and teenagers, but in my row I spotted a trio of aunties and one senior citizen, and I’m pretty sure they didn’t spend their youths raiding into the night.

The orc world is dying, so a particularly evil-looking orc Gul’dan (Daniel Wu) harvests the lives of thousands of prisoners to power a portal to the human world Azeroth using ‘the fel’ (aka bad) magic. The plan is to open the portal from the other side using new prisoners captured by the scouting team to bring the whole horde over to inherit the world, ravage villages, bathe in the blood of the conquered, etc etc. You know, nothing good. One particular orc clan leader, Durotan (Toby Kebbell) has misgivings about the fel magic – he’s convinced that there is a cost, and that its use poisons the land that it is invoked upon. Meanwhile, the humans are reacting. King Llane Wrynn (Dominic Cooper), his fave knight and brother-in-law Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel), and the Guardian of the Realm (AKA high superwizard with almost unlimited power) Medivh (Ben Foster) are hell-bent on driving the horde off their lands, aided by a young upstart mage Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer) who is both talented and extremely helpful.

But really none of that matters, much like the entirely inconsequential dialogue. Warcraft: The Beginning is an epic journey that lives up to the games with immersive, breath-taking locations, crazy creatures, and musical grandeur (thanks, Game of Thrones composer!). The special effects are ace, the action is palpable, and gosh, it makes me want to play World of Warcraft again.

Anyone who’s played Warcraft will appreciate the attention director Duncan Jones has put into evoking the experience of gameplay. In the opening sequence of the one-on-one orc vs human fight, the camera circles the opponent with the the back view of the orc coming into the frame from time to time, an effective point-of-view shot that feels like you’re actually involved. Similarly, when characters are on the move, Warcraft: The Beginning captures the familiar feeling of scouting and the immense distance covered. My particular favourite aspect was that they captured the party teamwork dynamic central to the games, with the mage on higher ground protecting the warriors as they do they’re in the thick of the carnage, desperately hoping their mage is on task.

Looks like a strong start that should satisfy Warcraft fans and noobs alike. And even the occasional hapless aunty. Who knows, maybe the beginning they’re talking about is actually Warcraft: the beginning of a long, money-spinning movie franchise, if its success in China is anything to go by.

Join the horde (of people who have seen the movie)! Get your tickets on Popcorn.