Certificate: 12A
Running time: 103 minutes
Directed by: Yimou Zhang.
What's it about: European mercenaries in search of black powder find themselves imprisoned within The Great Wall, where they discover that the wall has been built to protect China from legendary monsters.
The verdict: This film is said to be the most expensive Chinese production ever made, and it performed very well at the Chinese box office. Unfortunately the film is considered to be an overall box office failure as it underperformed in other territories, and it was slaughtered by critics upon its release. I found The Great Wall tricky to review because essentially it is a terrible film, but I really enjoyed it!
The film has a good cast, but even acting stalwarts such as Matt Damon and Willem Dafoe are laughingly bad in parts. Matt Damon's attempt at an Irish accent is a bit ropey, and he sometimes seemed to slip into an accent of his own creation. Pedro Pascal is fun as Matt Damon's right hand man, but no one stands out. A big part of this, is that the dialogue is very weak and there is no character development.
There is only one female named character in the film - Commander Lin Mae. This is definitely not a film that would pass The Bechdel Test. The only saving grace, in terms of female characters in the film, is that all the women are incredibly badass. They are the first line of defence on the wall, and the greatest warriors. It would have been nice to see some more female characters with dialogue though.
So the bad - terrible acting, dialogue, character development and representation of female actors. However as I mentioned before, I really enjoyed it. So, what did I like about it?
Although the film is bad, it is such an easy watch. The story is simple, and I actually found myself entertained throughout. This is a film that feels like a big blockbuster and ideally should be watched on as big a screen as possible. There are also some great visuals to be enjoyed. I think if you chose to watch this film on a Saturday night, then you would enjoy it. It's a throwaway film with big visual effects, and is very entertaining.
Should you watch this film? Yes. Although this is never going to be a critically acclaimed film, it is entertaining enough to warrant a watch.
The verdict: This film is said to be the most expensive Chinese production ever made, and it performed very well at the Chinese box office. Unfortunately the film is considered to be an overall box office failure as it underperformed in other territories, and it was slaughtered by critics upon its release. I found The Great Wall tricky to review because essentially it is a terrible film, but I really enjoyed it!
The film has a good cast, but even acting stalwarts such as Matt Damon and Willem Dafoe are laughingly bad in parts. Matt Damon's attempt at an Irish accent is a bit ropey, and he sometimes seemed to slip into an accent of his own creation. Pedro Pascal is fun as Matt Damon's right hand man, but no one stands out. A big part of this, is that the dialogue is very weak and there is no character development.
There is only one female named character in the film - Commander Lin Mae. This is definitely not a film that would pass The Bechdel Test. The only saving grace, in terms of female characters in the film, is that all the women are incredibly badass. They are the first line of defence on the wall, and the greatest warriors. It would have been nice to see some more female characters with dialogue though.
So the bad - terrible acting, dialogue, character development and representation of female actors. However as I mentioned before, I really enjoyed it. So, what did I like about it?
Although the film is bad, it is such an easy watch. The story is simple, and I actually found myself entertained throughout. This is a film that feels like a big blockbuster and ideally should be watched on as big a screen as possible. There are also some great visuals to be enjoyed. I think if you chose to watch this film on a Saturday night, then you would enjoy it. It's a throwaway film with big visual effects, and is very entertaining.
Should you watch this film? Yes. Although this is never going to be a critically acclaimed film, it is entertaining enough to warrant a watch.
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