The Great Wall (Mandarin Version)

Zhang Yimou capably gives ... "The Great Wall" the look and feel of a Hollywood blockbuster, but his signature visual dazzle, his gift for depicting delicate relationships and throbbing passions are trampled by dead-serious epic aspirations.

Damon is good value, his avuncular charm adding intimacy to what could have been an empty spectacle.

The whole thing plays out as if it had been thought up by someone who, while watching "Game of Thrones" and smoking a bowl, started riffing on walls, China and production money.

Simultaneously futuristic and historic, the visual spectacle carries the film, while Zhang manages to include plenty of promised "Chinese elements", including a beautiful shot of traditional sky lanterns at one character's funeral.

The Great Wall plays like The Last Samurai crossed with Jurassic Park, The Two Towers, Reign of Fire and one of those episodes of Thrones...

If you were entertained by the trailers then it's a safe bet you'll enjoy this as a Sunday afternoon movie. Just don't expect too much.

The Great Wall is easily the least interesting and involving blockbuster of the respective careers of both its director and star.

There are plenty of fun CGI monster-skewering scenes, but a clunky plot, rigid script and equally stiff acting make this a crumbling disappointment, if not quite a disaster.