Even Damon seems to be struggling with his dialogue, which is anachronistically peppered with modern vocabulary (one character gets to say “bitch”), humor (a handful of “I heard that!” jokes), and bromantic quips between William and Tovar.Īnd that’s not to mention the sheer lack of logic in the film: Why do the Taoties only attack human beings every 60 years? Why does the army host a “crane corps,” involving female soldiers bungee-jumping down the wall to lance the beasts, when there are already cannons and other artillery? And why is everybody rolling their r’s when they speak? The banality of this moral is representative of the weightlessness of nearly every aspect of the film: The characters are ciphers, the narrative is dull and even the sights and sounds become numbingly bombastic after a while. There’s also a message, which Lin spells out when she lectures William about the importance of trust. And while the “Westerners” are regularly shown up by the physically powerful and invariably principled Chinese warriors, it’s hardly a surprise who eventually gets to save the day for China and all mankind. It’s hardly a surprise that William chooses to stay even after Tovar - egged on by Ballard ( Dafoe), who has been in detention at the camp for 25 years, teaching English to Lin and strategist Wang (Lau) in the process - plots to steal the treasure and leave. Initially bent on getting what he wants - some mysterious gunpowder that will earn him a fortune back home - his conscience is soon awakened (this is Matt Damon, after all), and his head turned by Lin (Jing Tian of Special ID), the only female and English-speaking commander at the outpost. Having saved a soldier in the battle and showcased his archery skills, William is welcomed into the life of the garrison. “This is one of the legends,” the text reads, offering a disclaimer geared toward detractors readying to question the extraordinary premise to follow. Using computer-generated images of the Great Wall, the film begins with short onscreen texts explaining that, as the wall enters its third millennium in existence, there are both facts and legends about it.
For the international market, however, the film perhaps would best be positioned as a novelty for monster-flick fanboys or those interested in Zhang’s brand of cultural exotica. Still, Damon has certainly lent the whole enterprise a certain pedigree, and his presence (alongside Willem Dafoe and Chinese A-listers Andy Lau and Zhang Hanyu) should propel the film to box-office success in China. Telling the fantastical story of a massive battle waged to stop paranormal beasts from invading China, The Great Wall is easily the least interesting and involving blockbuster of the respective careers of both its director and star. The result, however, has turned out to be much less exciting than all the hype might have suggested.īeyond the casting and the ceaseless onslaught of diverse special effects, Zhang and his Hollywood screenwriters have delivered nothing more than a formulaic monster movie - albeit one transposed to a historically undefined China where generals dressed like Terracotta warriors already have mastered anesthetics, air travel and American-accented English. The Great Wallhas long been talked up as a landmark of sorts: It’s Matt Damon’s first foray into China, Zhang Yimou’s first predominantly English-language production and the first film to come out of Legendary Pictures’ continent-hopping strategy.
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