THE GREAT WALL MOVIE REVIEWS SERIES
At times, “The Great Wall” doesn’t even feel like a movie so much as a series of heavily processed effects and rushed conversations … which set the stage for more effects. The occasional slo-mo shot of a blade hurled at its target or a well-timed grenade toss are redeeming only because they distract from the overwhelming mediocrity. Unlike his ambitious “House of Flying Daggers,” which elegantly blended the Wuxia genre with a love story, “The Great Wall” just sags into CGI. Damon would have vetoed this concept on “Project Greenlight.” What did Willem Dafoe think he was getting himself into when he took on the role of the bumbling thief who wanders the Chinese fortress, eager to get his hands on black powder? And while Yimou usually has tight control of his stories, this one eludes his grasp. The strangest thing about “The Great Wall” is how much talent was squandered on it. However, much of the action unfolding along the Wall recalls any number of similar showdowns in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “Game of Thrones.” There’s a modicum of suspense in a prolonged segment that finds William attempting to capture an alien so the Chinese can study its weaknesses, but it plays out in such a straightforward fashion that it’s as if everyone lost interest in the challenge halfway through. The movie does present some engaging distractions in the Chinese troops’ inventive ways of combating the beasts, including the Crane Corp - a set of blue-clad warriors who bungee jump off the wall, spears in hand - and giant hot-air balloons. Any potential for a cross-cultural romance, however, is smothered by clunky exposition.
Taken by William’s earlier success with the Taoties, she bonds with him over a mutual interest in the battlefield. The Nameless Order does the bidding of a stern General Shao (Zhang Hanyu) and his devout strategist Wang (Zhang regular Andy Lau), while their battle victories owe much to the astounding physical achievements of Commander Lin (Jing Tian). “The Great Wall” is on sturdier ground with its Chinese characters, and despite the overwhelming absurdity that end of the cast turns in serviceable performances. Outside that feeble moment of levity, the script (written by Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro, and Tony Gilroy) plods through a series of set pieces. A bad movie by any culture’s standards, “The Great Wall” mostly goes to show that if the future of the business lies with Hollywood -China alliances, it doesn’t bode well for either side. Instead, the bland story finds Damon and two other white actors surrounded by a largely Asian cast in a Chinese-approved adventure (where it’s already generating strong, though not blockbuster, box office). There’s little need for good performances or filmmaking when every scene has been calculated to serve the bottom line.Īssailed in the West for presenting a white savior at the center of an Asian cast, the movie’s racial violations aren’t as egregious as some early critics claimed.
Hollywood and China’s terminally awkward shotgun wedding continues with “ The Great Wall,” a clunky, effects-riddled blockbuster in which a humorless Damon joins forces with major Chinese director Zhang Yimou for a project that suits neither of their talents. Now, Matt Damon’s battling mystical forces in medieval China. First, there was that inexplicable half-hour climax in “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” which exported the entire cast to Beijing.
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