‘The Great Wall’ Falls Short of Expectations

An unfulfilling plot, mediocre acting, and decent overall visuals made “The Great Wall” a painfully OK film.

Universal Pictures’ “The Great Wall” is a fiction action-adventure monster film directed by Zhang Yimou, starring Matt Damon as China’s White Savior.

The film takes place in China during the Song Dynasty, with Damon and Pedro Pascal being the lone survivors of a mercenary group slaughtered by an unknown monster whilst searching for a powerful black powder. The two are then taken prisoner by a secret Chinese military group called The Nameless Order, led by Zhang Hanyu, Jing Tian, and Andy Lau.

The purpose of The Nameless Order is to fend off alien monsters called Tao Tei that resurface every 60 years to terrorize China. Now, Damon and Pascal must fight alongside the soldiers if they want to live. A friendly Willem Dafoe plays a minor role within the army, but ends up being “da foe.”

The basis for this movie failed to make any logical sense. Why was a random white man the only person who could slay these monsters with any accuracy, despite this entire Chinese army having prepared for centuries? And what are the odds that the commander of the army just so happens to know perfect English?

What the plot of the movie lacked in sustenance was somewhat made up for in visuals. The costume design was the real hero of the movie; armor worn by the army and its leaders was intricately detailed with traditional Chinese design, yet had a vibrant modern twist.

However, the CGI for various action shots and for the monsters seemed clunky and unrealistic. This, combined with stiff acting, made most of the movie particularly bland.

The stern tone of the film was easily lightened by Pascal’s performance, with his character being the essence of comedic relief for an otherwise monotonous movie.

One thing that the movie did right was that it did not make a love interest out of Tian’s character for Damon, despite many opportunities in the plot where it seemed like a budding romance would begin.

The trend of needless romance in action movies is tiresome, so it was refreshing to have an independent woman as one of the leads, uninterrupted and unfazed by a man.

This movie went above expectations, but only because the bar was set fairly low. Overall “The Great Wall” was neither as exciting nor ridiculous as one might hope.