Great Wall, The (2017) [Blu-ray]
Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline: It took 1700 years to build and is 5500 miles long. What were they trying to keep out?

European mercenaries searching for black powder become embroiled in the defense of the Great Wall of China against a horde of monstrous creatures.

Storyline: When a mercenary warrior (Matt Damon) is imprisoned within the Great Wall, he discovers the mystery behind one of the greatest wonders of the world. As wave after wave of marauding beasts besiege the massive structure, his quest for fortune turns into a journey toward heroism as he joins a huge army of elite warriors to confront the unimaginable and seemingly unstoppable force. Written by Watch_Movies

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, May 28, 2017 The Great Wall isn't revisionist history, it's just dumb fantasy. The film, which posits that China's Great Wall -- one of the seven wonders of the world -- was not built to keep invading humans out but rather invading monsters out, offers nearly nonstop human vs monster mayhem centered around China's hallmark landmark. The scaly green foes, who send their queen into the middle of every battle and protect her with a reptilian-type Testudo Formation, attack en masse and are repelled by defenders along the wall. They're also vulnerable to...magnets. It's an exercise in imagination and creativity, but the movie proper offers anything but. Made up of the same old, same old in terms of acrobatic action scenes and nonsensical scenarios, Director Zhang Yimou's (Coming Home) film can't escape its vacuous story, even with its barrage of visuals meant to blind more forgiving audiences from the emptiness around them.

William Garin (Matt Damon) leads a band of mercenaries who have entered Chinese territory in search of the mythical "black powder" (gunpowder). In their pursuits, they are attacked by an unseen creature. William severs its hand. They are soon thereafter taken prisoner by Chinese forces and held within the Great Wall. There, their tale of defeating the monster is met with doubt and derision, but William's story is ultimately proven correct. But no sooner is his story validated does the wall come under attack from an army of those same creatures. Under orders of General Lin (Jing Tian), William and his companion Pero Tovar (Pedro Pascal) are to be kept away from battle, but William's skill ultimately helps turn the tide. Soon, he finds himself a central figure in China's battle against the scaly, monstrous army.

It's impossible to watch The Great Wall and not think of Starship Troopers. Unfortunately, this film lacks the same kind of biting social commentary as found in Paul Verhoeven's man-versus-monster War movie. Instead, The Great Wall is simply an excuse to show off a bunch of recycled "cool factor" moments and scenarios all over the screen. The movie banks on its unfeasible spectacle to entertain, the same kind of slow motion, showboat antics that, no matter how hard they try, cannot hide the movie's structural weaknesses. The wall has archers, OK. It comes armed with multiple catapults. Makes sense. And then there are...bungie jumpers. People who stand out on a small ledge and bungie off the side of the wall to strike enemies with a spear, a spear they, of course, receive with precision, acrobatic unison from back at the wall. Maybe it's just a jaded reviewer talking, but it's just slicked-up nonsense that detracts from an already weak story with one of the most try-hard bits of nonsense ever committed to film. Build a moat, drop hot oil, use that gunpowder more effectively, but take the story seriously enough and disregard the pointless circus acts next time, please.

Sadly, the groan-inducing bits don't stop there. Gems of dialogue like "What god made those things?" followed by "None that we know" litter the movie. The pseudo romance angle that never really goes anywhere seems to only take up space where much more grit might have worked better, something more like Reign of Fire and less like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with monsters. Matt Damon, whose character is named William, is a regular William Tell with the bow, a man capable of shooting three arrows, one to deflect a dish and two more to hold it upright against a pillar in a bit of bow-and-arrow trickery that only CGI could accomplish. Damon's performance is stilted, tired, lacking any sort of tangible depth or emotion, one of the most empty of his career. On the plus side, the movie does look gorgeous. Costuming is intricate, CGI blends perfectly with real life, battle scenes are sprawling and involved, and several moments, including a sequence in the fog midway through the film, are quite engrossing. The movie just can't help but to favor spectacle over grit, and it pushes so hard it loses its way and never recovers, right on through to its colorful stained glass window finale.

The Great Wall is more sophomoric than it is serious. True, not every film can be a dark, gritty, unbearable slice of (make-believe) wartime devastation, but this one just feels too contrived, over-the-top, dependent more on empty and needless spectacle than story. Of course, when the story is "monsters attacking China's Great Wall," there's not much to go on there, anyway. It should find favor with a forgiving audience, and it is decent time killing entertainment. It does its thing very well, but don't just leave the brain at the door, leave it tucked away in a safety deposit box, just to be sure. Universal's Blu-ray release of The Great Wall features reference 1080p video and amazing Atmos audio. A decent smattering of extras are included. Worth a look on a lazy weekend.

[CSW] -1.6- Damon does a good job in this captivating science fiction based on the premise that the great wall of China was built to keep out monsters. Tagline: "It took 1700 years to build and is 5500 miles long. What were they trying to keep out?" Well, historically the Great Wall was intended to keep out barbarian invaders from the north...I seriously doubt anyone in China had the Tao Tei alien monsters in mind when they built the Wall. This movie got a great deal of smack talk because they cast Damon as the lead but honestly, without his star power, it would have just been another Asian movie with lots of Asians nobody in the USA knows and would not have gotten viewed here. The beautiful Chinese actress, Tian Jing, is also quite good...her appearance is a plus for the movie. The balance of the cast - Asian and Caucasian - are also adequate to good and the CGI special effects are stunning. The movie starts out quick and keeps a good pace throughout with strong special effects and a storyline that keeps you engaged. However… it is a CGI monster fest with no plot twists or character development. It is colorful and majestic in scale but overall a pretty hollow storyline that doesn't ring true until after the movie when you have time to think about it. Rent it.
[V5.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box motion codes were available at the time of this rental although they are available now.


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