Name: The Great Wall
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Blockbuster
Released: 2016
Duration: T1H43M
Cast: Matt Damon, Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe, Andy Lau

Trailer

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From the director of 2002's Hero comes this fantasy-action blockbuster, an alternate history twist on why China built The Great Wall - and what elite forces were trying to keep out. Stars Oscar-winner Matt Damon, Jing Tian (Special ID), Pedro Pascal (TV's Games of Thrones), Willem Dafoe (The Grand Budapest Hotel), and Andy Lau (House of Flying Daggers).

2016Rating: M, Violence103 minsChina, USA

ActionFantasyBlockbuster

All Reviews (9)

Director:: Yimou Zhang ('Hero', 'House of Flying Daggers', 'Curse of the Golden Flower')
Writer:: Max BrooksMarshall HerskovitzCarlo BernardDoug MiroTony Gilroy
Cast:: Matt DamonJing TianPedro PascalWillem DafoeAndy LauHanyu ZhangEddie PengKenny Lin

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The Great Wall / Reviews

Flicks, Daniel Rutledge

If you want to see Matt Damon fighting an army of mythical reptilian beasts in feudal-era China, The Great Wall shouldn't disappoint. It's a remarkably straight-ahead genre piece with no delusions of grandeur, and at no risk of punching above its dramatic weight by keeping its goals nice and low. I probably won't reach for this Blu-ray in a few years from now over director Yimou Zhang's previous Hero or House of Flying Daggers; but I was pleasantly surprised with how much fun I had with it on the big screen.

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Variety

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.

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Time Out

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

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The New York Times

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.

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The Guardian

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.

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Stuff

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...

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New Zealand Herald

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.

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Hollywood Reporter

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

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Empire Magazine

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.

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