Typically when Chinese films meet with Hollywood, the quality of these films is consummate. With the likes of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" 2000, "Hero" '02 and "House of the Flying Daggers" '04, action adventure melds with beauty and quality amazingly well. Now that these films have proven themselves profitable, "The Great Wall" was produced to add to that already quality list.
The Great Wall of China. It spans 5,500 miles. It took more than 1700 years to build. When two mercenary warriors from the west, William (Matt Damon) and Tovar (Pedro Pascal) are imprisoned within the Great Wall, they discover the mystery behind one of the greatest wonders of the world. As wave after wave of marauding beasts besiege the massive structure, their quest for fortune turns into a journey toward heroism as they join a huge army lead up by General Shao (Hanyu Zhang) and Commander Lin (Tian Jing) of elite warriors to confront the unimaginable and seemingly unstoppable force. These supernatural creatures, along with others menaces were obstacles that the Great Wall was built to repel. There are many stories about the Great Wall. Some known, others based in legend. This story is based in legend in 11th century China.
Others to round out the cast are Willem Dafoe as Ballard, Andy Lau as Strategist Wang, Lu Han as Peng Yong, Eddie Peng as Commander Wu, Kenny Lin as Commander Chen, Xuan Huang as Commander Deng, Junkai Wang as Emperor and Zheng Kai as Shen.
This was directed with style and finesse by Zhang Yimou ("Raise the Red Lantern" '91, "To Live" '94, "Keep Cool" '97, "Hero" '02, "House of the Flying Daggers" '04, "Curse of the Golden Flower" '06, "The Bright Red Lanterns Hung High" '08, "The Flowers of War" '11, "Coming Home" '14) plus others. His style is distinct as it is beautifully photographed--in this case by Stuart Drysburgh, asc., and coupled with an intriguing locale with fine acting, how could these films of his go wrong? It was creatively written by Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro and Tony Gilroy based on a story by Max Brooks, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. I get that Gilroy was one of the writers--he's incredibly seasoned, but I'm not quite sure why Zwick was not included as one of the screenwriters. His resume speaks for itself. Even though the running time was only 104 minutes, there were a couple of small places of slowness, otherwise this script soared. I was a bit hesitant about Damon being cast in this type of film, but after viewing this, he really pulled it off. I suspect if he could excel in the likes of "Elysium", he could do this easily and be just as believable.
One would think that with a good deal of this being subtitled, it would lose something in the translation, but it was exquisitely well thought and beautifully produced, so keeping up was effortless. This is pure escape at its finest keeping you on that proverbial edge of your seat all the way through the credits end. Enjoy!
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: PG-13 104mins.
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