The Great Wall

Cast: Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal: Direction: Zhang Yimou; Story: Max Brooks, Edward Zwicks, Marshall Herskovitz; Screenplay: Carlo Bernard, etc.; Cinematography: Stuart Dryburgh, Zhao Xiaoding; Editing: Cariag Wood; Music: Ramin Djawadi; Producers: Thomas Tull, Charles Roven, Jon Jashni, Petr Loehr; Genre: Fantasy-Adventure-Action:  Location: China; Distributor: Universal Pictures  Running Time:114 minutes 

Technical assessment: 3.5 

Moral assessment: 3

CINEMA rating: V18 
MTRCB rating: PG

The movie opens with a group of mercenary soldiers, whose motivation is money and food, and is pursued by the Khitans.  Eventually only William Garin (Damon) and Pero Tovar (Pascal) survive while hiding in a cave and accidentally slashes the hand of a monster.  The following day, the two come across the Great Wall and are captured by General Shao’s (Hanyu) elite army named the Nameless Order. Apparently, this army trained for eternity to eventually fight the Taotie beasts which invade the Jade Mountains every 60 years. Originally, Garin and Tovar’s objective is to steal black powder but the former gains the respect of the elite army and fights with the deputy commander Lin (Tian) to defeat the monsters. 

The Great Wall is a masterful visual extravaganza and nothing more. With the arsenal of Hollywood at its disposal, the movie had no reason to miss technical and production excellence.  Effortlessly, from start to finish, Yimou treated us with his signature filmic bravado playing lights, colors and movement in a dynamically choreographed scene. Audiences will always remember cinematic articulations like the funeral of Geneal Shao and tapestry of the Gobi desert and others. Editing is tight and successfully weaves together a series of suspense and action. For these elements alone, videwers will leave the theater satisfied. We wish we could say the same for its narrative. However, the storyline is flat and develops half-heartedly. The overwhelming visuals are sometimes too much to take given the absence of a complementary narrative exposition or motivational backstory. The supporting cast feels like a driftwood coasting through mounds of dialogue. 

The Great Wall offers a very timely message: selflessness supersedes self-centeredness. While we understand that people need to survive and will do anything to make sure he gets his next meal, to fight for something other than personal existence and die for a cause so others may live elevates humanity. Garin’s original motivations are food and money but through Lin’s courage and passion, he understands the value of serving others and sacrificing one’s self. And eventually finds more meaning in life. Society is not built on violence, anger or power. It is a collaboration of people building communities, strengthened by trust, loyalty and brotherhood.  While violence is unavoidable, it is not presented graphically so as to disturb the sensitivities of the younger audience.