The Great Wall Movie Review

Released: 17th February 2017 (UK and US)

Length: 104 Minutes

Certificate: 12A

Director: Zhang Yimou

Starring: Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal, Jing Tian, Willem Dafoe and Andy Lau

Mixing the fantasy genre against a historical backdrop and aiming to appeal to an audience beyond Chinese cinema, The Great Wall has an impressive size to its imaginary war but doesn’t have much else to offer in comparison to other films of its kind.

In the time of the Song Dynasty, two European thieves named William Garin (Matt Damon) and Pero Tovar (Pedro Pascal of Game of Thrones fame) are on an errand to retrieve the explosive black powder which would surely turn the tide in other national conflicts; while trying to escape with valuable materials, they come across the Great Wall of China and are taken prisoner by its occupying army, the Nameless Order. Things grow complicated when a pack of lizard creatures attack and the two of them are soon roped into a desperate defence to keep the creatures from rolling over all of Asia. The Great Wall is broken into three acts which vary in terms of overall quality, the first two offering some decent action set-pieces. Momentum is rarely its strong suit however; dropping off the action, the audience is treated to some dull character moments which don’t much the overall narrative. It’s very heavy on exposition as well, which spoils a lot of the mystery behind the creatures attacking the wall; at many points the characters will simply spell out the fantastical elements to the audience, resulting in a lot of wasted potential. The third act also goes downhill somewhat as we’re introduced to a very underwhelming Emperor character and his advisors. At the very least, The Great Wall is a self-contained story, but it struggles to fit its action into a well-told story.

Despite making a solid use of Chinese actors, the characters of The Great Wall are very lacklustre across the board; Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal aren’t very interesting and the fact that they start the film off with identical make-up styles doesn’t work to set them apart. It’s impossible to care about their goals because there’s never any deeper dives into their positions as thieves and how they tie into the overall struggle. Contrary to all the controversy, The Great Wall is far from a “white savior” production; as much of the focus goes towards Jing Tian’s character and the army she comes to command; Tian is easily the best actor of the film, despite a few flat moments here and there. Wilem Dafoe doesn’t have a lot to do and the same also goes for many of the generals of each sect in the Nameless Order; they don’t have anything to them sadly, which makes their contributions ring hollow throughout the film. It’s a significantly lowered amount of investment if the characters aren’t all that memorable and The Great Wall really falls short here.

Computer generated imagery has a large presence in The Great Wall and it does succeed at creating a colossal battle raging throughout one of man’s greatest constructs. There’s a real sense of scale as the camera pans up and over the massive structures of the titular landmark, giving a full view of both armies as they clash. A heavy use of drums populates adds a real weight to the proceedings and the extras do well to sell the action which cuts between various war machines and troops to create further immersion. The designs of the creatures, bipedal with mouths full of razer sharp teeth also look capably threatening. As well shot as the action is though, there are some silly moments which detract from the its fantastical tone; colour coding the different factions of the army feels too simplistic and a certain sequence involving bungee jumping feels very ineffective. When the film is aiming to give off the impression of a capable Chinese army, these points stick out more than they should.

The Great Wall may offer an alternative take on the fantasy epic but it isn’t worth getting excited over. When the action heats up, it can be mildly entertaining, but when it has to slow down and give time to the characters, it just doesn’t work, pulling it down from its lofty ambitions.

Rating: 2/5 Stars (Disappointing)