Written by: Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro, Tony Gilroy, Max Brooks, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz
Starring: Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Willem Dafoe
Given that this film was directed by the director of such amazing films as Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004), you might be forgiven for thinking that film would be more than it appeared to be. As it is, The Great Wall is essentially what is purported itself to be; a well shot highly stylised CGI-fest with enough action set pieces and monsters to make it at least worth the price of the ticket, if you're in to this sort of film.
*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*
The film is a legend about the Great Wall of China, suggesting that it was used to keep out monsters, with a few liberties taken in the walls design to add spinning blades, a variety of anti-siege weapons, and platforms that soldiers jump off of while held by ropes. The soldiers set to guard the wall all have their specific duties, and in Zhang's usual style their roles are given by the colour of their armour. The commanders of these groups feel like Power Rangers; they where different colours on their armour, each helmet's design is like that of an animal, and they even have a power coin (kinda). The monsters they fight are the Taotie, reptilian creatures that attack every sixty years as punishment to humanity for an ancient emperor's treatment of his kingdom.
In the middle of this are William and Tovar (Damon and Pedro Pascal) two mercenaries who came to China after hearing about the existence of a rare black powder (gunpowder, in case you hadn't guessed), who were captured by the soldiers on the wall. William is our mature hero who must learn to fight for something other than himself, Tovar is the whiny comic relief who offers us a laugh or two.
In this movie, there may be a few times where you find yourself asking questions. "Why are the generals putting themselves in the middle of the fight when they're supposed to be leading the army?" "Why do magnets cause the monsters to shut down?" "Why do the Taotie keep attacking when the emperor they were sent to punish is long dead?" Don't worry, these questions are never really answered, because the movie is too busy trying to look cool; fortunately, the movie manages to be exciting or at least stupidly hilarious for the most part.
In the simplest terms, the action looks good, but the CGI doesn't. While this movie does a much better job than most modern action movies at looking comprehensible, the Taotie thmselves are just the same monster copy-pasted a thousand times, with an interesting design but too cartoonish to really evoke any kind of fear or wonder, and other things like mountains look lower resolution than what you see in video games nowadays. That said, the wall defense scenes are the best in the film, with spinning blades built in to the wall and women diving in to the fray with spears while held by ropes showing a little more creativity. There's also the finale, which takes place in a stained glass tower just because there's a lot of colours and it looks really cool. This movie isn't anything of substance, but it'll likely hold the attention of some.
The Verdict: The Great Wall isn't anything like Zhang's best; there's some stylised action and a few campy laughs surrounded by iffy plot, acting, dialogue and effects. I enjoyed my experience, even if it isn't a good film, so I do recommend this if you're up for some over the top colour co-ordinated set pieces that'll either get your blood pumping or give you a good chuckle.
Rating: 5/10
Published February 19th, 2017
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