Because of the destructive power of Fel, a form of deadly black magic that draws its strength from life, the Orc civilization has destroyed its own world. Through a portal, an army led by the magician Gul'dan arrives in the realm of Azeroth, with the aim of taking it over and settling there. Inhabited by a variety of species that live together in peace headed the human King Wrynn, Azeroth prepares to fight for the survival of its world, with the help of the extraordinary powers of the Guardian and Garona, a half-Orc half-human...

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Duncan Jones, son of David Bowie, had a great debut in 2009 with the sci-fi Moon, which helped gloss over his rather dull second movie, Source Code starring Jake Gyllenhaal in 2011. But his first success won’t stretch to cover Warcraft: The Beginning, a blatant attempt to cash in on the popular video game. The 160 million blockbuster is not much more than a splash of color, sound and special effects, a war between men and orcs set up to sell the franchise more than the movie. Beyond the skillful Hollywood production value, it is sorely lacking in imagination and soul, with human actors who are much less convincing than the motion-capture orcs, and set decoration that is merely ordinary. Warcraft: The Beginning looks like a cheap fantasy patchwork that skips too quickly over its few good parts without offering any thrilling action. An ending that is too obviously a prologue for the next movie expected by the studio confirms the movie’s weakness.