THE GREAT WALL – Review

Visionary Chinese director Yimou Zhang has delivered a rousing take on the venerable traditions of the monster movie. Though promoted as a historical epic, THE GREAT WALL is a B-movie at heart, and it’s a lot of fun. The story opens in the Gobi Desert in Northern China in the 17^th century as soldiers-for-hire William Garin (Matt Damon) and Pero Tovar (Pedro Pascal) are searching for gunpowder when they are attacked by an unseen creature whose paw they manage to lop off. The pair then arrive at a military post on the Great Wall and are captured by the Nameless Order, an army led by General Shao (Zhang Hanyu) and his right-hand gal Lin Mae (Jing Tian). Impressed by Will’s archery skills, the Generals recruit him to help battle the Tao Tei, thousands of ferocious beasties that rise from the nearby Jade Mountain every 60 years to wipe out humans and everything else in their wake.

THE GREAT WALL is fast-paced, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and is on balance, terrifically entertaining. Plot wise, it owes debts to ALIENS and WORLD WAR Z and STARSHIPS TROOPERS and every dragon drama ever made, but visually, Zhang brings his own bold vision in terms of action, set design and use of color, especially in the costumes. The sound design is also a treat for the ears whether it’s the percussive thunder of war drums, or the clinking of chains and swords, or the otherworldly howls of the Tao Teu. Zhang makes 3D fun again. He well-exploits the gimmick, not just with the expected battleaxes and arrows flung toward the camera, but the eye-popping antics of a blue-clad division of soldiers who bungee jump off the Wall to battle the creatures below. The 3D works beautifully in a battle near the end that takes place on a fleet of white hot-air balloons. It’s the type of visually stunning action sequence that, as he has shown us in films such as HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGGERS, become Zhang’s calling card.

Some of the dialog is predictably clunky (“Kill the queen or we all die!”), but Damon and Pascal play off each other well. Willem Dafoe is underused as an imprisoned Englishman, and the creature design is a tad underwhelming. The Tao Tei are basically toothy, horse-sized lizard-dogs and I’m not sure they need tens of thousands of these critters. A couple dozen of them may have been equally effective, but the filmmakers have the good sense not only to build to a satisfying climax, but to know when to end. THE GREAT WALL could easily have been the kind of overblown epic with a bloated running time, but it wisely wraps things up around the 95-minute mark. We need more lean, un-self-important throwback movies like THE GREAT WALL and I recommend it.

4 of 5 Stars