In the realm of swords and sorcery, Conan the Barbarian has to one of the most iconic and enduring characters, who even pre-dates The Lord of the Rings.

Originally appearing in pulp fiction short stories, Conan is another pioneer of multimedia, or transmedia as it is now called, appearing in literature, comic books, the artwork of Frank Frazetta, games and the 1982 John Milius movie that fully launched Arnold Schwarzenegger onto the world.

This latest movie version will inevitably draw comparisons with the Arnie film, however it is not a remake but a new interpretation based on Robert E. Howard’s stories.

As is the trend with most cinema relaunches these days, this is an origins movie that literally goes back to Conan’s birth on the battlefield through his childhood (played with fierce tenacity by Leo Howard) being brought up by his father (Ron Perlman) until the arrival Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang in another great character piece) and his witchy daughter Marique (an almost unrecognisable Rose McGowan, stripped of her Charms), in search of the final piece of the legendary Mask of Acheron, which will give him ultimate power over men.

Jumping forward several years and the fully grown Conan (Jason Momoa from Stargate Atlantis and Game of Thrones) is wandering the lands searching for Zym while helping the downtrodden victims of despots, and taking advantage of their women.

Meanwhile Zym is hunting for a “pureblood” ancestor of the original creators of the Mask, whose blood will activate the Mask’s powers. Enter Priestess Tamara (Rachel Nichols) and the beginning of a tempestuous relationship with Conan as they try to prevent Zym fulfilling his nefarious ambitions.

Momoa makes a great Conan, and this is not much of a deviation from his role in Game of Thrones. He has the right physicality, but with just the right amount of humanity to make him likable, in spite of or because of his totally non-PC behaviour, especially in the way he speaks to Tamara - after all, he is a barbarian not a modern day metrosexual.

To be fair she did deserve it; most of the time she was all independence and self-assurance, but as soon as she was captured and in peril she spent a lot of time screaming like a teen horror victim, which was rather incongruous with how the character was originally presented. And speaking of non-PC, there was something decidedly creepy about the relationship between Zym and his daughter Marique that had nothing to do with their quest for power.

This is a good old-fashioned fantasy-action movie where men are men, and women are decoration, which may not appeal to some modern sensibilities, but the film is called Conan the Barbarian, not Conan the Humanitarian.

If you are happy to accept the film’s premise it is good fun. Because of Momoa’s presence, it is much easier to draw parallels with Game of Thrones than with the original Conan movie(s), especially in terms of action and production values, what it doesn’t have is the same level of character development or story arc, but this is more to do with Conan being a nearly two-hour movie and other being a ten-hour TV series than the scope of the actual stories and their worlds. Conan’s world has become ever more expansive over its 80 years of source material.

With a dubious rom-com, a bunch of art house films and yet another Final Destination film on offer, this has to be the multiplex choice of the week - and do it see it 2D as there isn’t a lot of added spectacle to be gained from seeing it with glasses on.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN is in cinemas in 2D and 3D from August 24.

We have a fantastic Conan goodie bag to give away, including a signed photo, T-shirt and story collection and a Gates of Slumber CD Album (Quality, Conan-inspired epic metal from Rise Above Records!). Click on the link below to enter the competition.