The Great Wall
Director: Yimou Zhang. 104 mins. (12a)
star rating: 3/5 worth watching
Synopsis
In the 11th century two mercenary soldiers William (Matt Damon) and Tovar (Pedro Pascal) are in China to steal fthe abled ‘Black powder’ (gunpowder), but they are captured and imprisoned by Chinese soldiers and taken to the Great Wall.
The army are preparing to battle hordes of man-eating beasts, the Tao Tie, who emerge every 60 years to feed on humans and, in turn, nourish their Queen. This nourishment means she can birth more Tao Tie.
If the beasts make their way to the capital city (pop: 2 million) it will inevitably mean the destruction of all mankind. Tovar sees an opportunity to escape with the highly prized powder, but the more principled William decides to stay and fight.
Review by Jason Day
Despite a yawn-inducing opening 'chase', The Great Wall is a riot of colour, action and wonderful nonsense.
A 'Jason Bourne meets Game of Thrones' fantasy which sees Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal's mercenary medieval soldiers holed up in the titular ancient barrier to help the Chinese 'Rainbow Army' battle beasties who want to literally consume mankind.
One of the co-writers is the man behind the critically acclaimed Michael Clayton, which might explain the flashes of ingenuity in the script (an army with some gender-parity is explained in the most practical of terms) and why, despite being utterly daft, this is still a surprisingly fun and brisk spectacle.
Damon and Pascal make an entertaining duo, although the less said about Willem Defoe's 'English' prisoner the better. But its the costume design and photography that take centre stage: uniformly pleasing to the eye, there are some stand-out set-pieces including a sky lantern funeral and a final battle in a kaleidoscopic pagoda.
For more, read the full review bit.ly/greatwall2017
Cast & credits
Legendary East/Atlas Entertainment/China Film Group/Kava Productions/Le Vision Pictures/Legendary Entertainment. (12a)
Producers: Jon Jashni, Peter Loehr, Charles Roven, Thomas Tull.
Writers: Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro, Tony Gilroy.
Camera: Stuart Dryburgh, Xiaoding Zhao.
Music: Ramin Djawadi.
Sets: John Myrhe.
Matt Damon, Tian Jing, Willem Dafoe, Andy Lau, Pedro Pascal, Hanyu Zhang, Lu Han, Kenny Lin, Eddie Peng.
Image courtesy of Universal
