The Great Wall Plot Summary:
When two westerners are captured by the Chinese army, they become embroiled in a war that has raged for centuries between China and an army of ferocious monsters. Skilled with a bow and arrow, William (Matt Damon) must decide whether or not to help this army, or return to his selfish, thieving ways.
If you like movies where the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park get infused with the xenomorphs from Aliens who attack the Great Wall of China, then this is the movie for you. The film that kept running through my head while I watched this was actually the Tom Cruise Sci-Fi time traveler from a couple years ago, Edge of Tomorrow. Wait, isn’t it Live. Die. Repeat now, or Kill the Future? I don’t know. Whatever. That film was an all-time lesson in poor marketing, but it was actually a really good movie. The Great Wall suffers this same fate. The trailers are dog doo, but for whatever reason, I had a gut feeling about this one. Maybe I like brick walls. Maybe I like bow and arrows. Maybe it’s the Matt Damon effect. For whatever reason, this movie flat out works.
What pisses me off about bad action movies is how un-creative and messy they are (*cough* xXx: Return of Xander Cage *cough*). It’s nothing but a barrage of unfocused, obnoxious CGI dumped onto the screen. This action is quite extraordinary. I’m not going to say it’s Mad Max: Fury Road or Helm’s Deep (The Two Towers), but it’s in that school of awe-inspiring, eyes glued to the screen action. Everything is staged beautifully. It’s impressively shot. It’s crisp as hell.
This director (Yimou Zhang) knows what he’s doing, and looking at his past work (House of Flying Daggers), that’s not a surprise. There’s a lot of nifty tricks they pull off. The first battle scene in particular is awesome. This is what so many horrendous films like Gods of Egypt or that Crank garbage don’t understand. Action truly is an art form.
As I’ve said a hundred times, great action can only take you so far. If the characters blow, I’ll check out fast. This was a surprisingly solid script. I’m not saying it’s Network or Dog Day Afternoon, but we have actual people we care about with personalities. It doesn’t hurt to get Matt Damon, who can be infused into any role and automatically be entertaining. William goes through the typical Han Solo reluctant hero arc, but it’s efficiently told. He could also run with Legolas and Oliver Queen when it comes to an Arrow-off.
Matt Damon isn’t the only one who brought it. Tian Jing plays the tough Chinese Commander. She and Damon have great chemistry, which is key. One of the highlights was the bond between William and his side kick, Tovar, played by Pedro Pascal. They have great banter. At times it gets a little too Marvel Cinematic Universe, but their back and forth breathes life into a period piece, which is not easy to do. While their subplot and conflict has meat, it gets way too convoluted and messy at the end. This is where the script gets lazy.
One of the other characters who doesn’t work is Willem Dafoe. Willem Dafoe Dafoes his way through the movie, which is entertaining, but he’s completely unnecessary. His only purpose is to serve a couple minor plot points, but the character could have been taken out. It’s almost like Willem Dafoe wandered onto the set, so they wrote him in at the last second. Whatever.
While the film is highly entertaining, the last half hour does have that “let’s wrap it up” feeling. I compliment the film for having a nice under two hour run time though. It does not over stay its welcome. If this was directed by Gore Verbinski or Peter Jackson, it would have felt like I was walking out of a hibernation pod on a ninety-year space journey when the credits came on.
The Great Wall will take you by surprise. If you love epic action set pieces, this will quench your thirst. It’s populated with solid side characters and good dialogue, and even has a memorable score. The design of the CGI creatures surprisingly came off as original. They looked ferocious, but don’t overdo it. They also created a neat little weakness that is visually appealing when they get hit with an arrow. If you enjoy hitting Zelda bosses, you’ll love it.
To borrow a cliché, The Great Wall is the perfect matinee for a rainy day.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10 (Very Good)
