La Grande Muraille

As a constant film goer I was really impressed with this film. It was entertaining. The story worked well. The acting was great. And the effects were really impressive. I watched it on a big screen in Bangkok and enjoyed the experience. The sound was equally impressive.

I just can't understand why the really negative reviews abound. Some are cursing it for having foreign actors. Others about the political situation etc. And the poor director is even getting a caning.

The story is about a legend. And it was wonderful to just sit back and let someone tell a story. I nearly didn't go because of all the bad reviews but I am glad I went and made up my own mind.

Go and see it.

This film tells the story of two Western men who goes to China in search of gunpowder. They enter the Middle Kingdom with the foot of a beast they have killed, hoping to make a bargain with the Chinese for gunpowder. Instead, they get into a big adventure with monstrous beasts that nothing could have prepared them for.

I was really skeptical about "The Great Wall", because the last film I watched that was made for the Chinese market was horrible. "The Great Wall", on the other hand, pleasantly surprised me because it surpassed my expectations with flying colours. The plot is tight, thrilling and well paced. I am so happy to see Chinese actors and actresses taking positive roles. Even the Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau is only having a supporting role in this film! In addition, I was not expecting Jing Tian's English to be as good as that. She had a mostly non speaking role in "Kong Skull Island", so I thought it was because of the language barrier. The battle scenes against the beasts are plentiful, and the scenes are thrilling and draws me in like a magnet. I cannot wait to see what happens next. The grand finale is breathtaking, both visually and literally. I enjoyed it a lot.

First of all, this movie does a lot of things right. The costume designs are great, the set designs are very convincing and the CGI is, although not cutting edge, up to modern standards in film-making. The music score could have been better but maybe the composer had a Chinese audience in mind.

The acting will not win any Oscars but we see some genuine moments of emotion and bonding and believe it or not but there are one or two scenes with a good suspense arc. Moreover, Jing Tian has a nice smile and looks really fine in uniform. That might be my own idiosyncratic standard but an attractive female lead certainly adds to the "positives".

With all that praise then, why does it fall short of being a truly great movie? As my summary indicates it is simply overloaded with too many plot devices. It's a hero/East meets West/monster/action/tale of betrayal and redemption/romance/fantasy movie loaded with Chinese symbolism capped by a rather weak, anticlimactic and hurried cookie-cutter ending. The audience never has enough time to get emotionally invested in the characters. The script tries but there simply isn't enough time to do it all and eventually the movie does too little to explore any of the plot elements and characters.

Nevertheless, it is not a bad movie and certainly not ambitious enough to deserve any of the vitriol people read into the story without ever watching the movie. I was entertained but not really awestruck.

Wasn't expecting to enjoy this film but I was rapt soon in, fabulous acting and brilliant images, what a feast for the eyes and an adventure that dragged you along, (so not my normally my kind of thing) but amazing and recommended to everyone, the visuals are amazing, very stunning film

From the description I read of the movie, it sounded kind of strange and I wasn't sure it was something I really wanted to watch. I'm glad I did. It's an old legend or story. Is it real? I don't know, is Santa Claus real? Does it matter if it is true or accurate? Not to me, it is a well written movie with some incredible action. The visuals are stunning to say the least. The costumes are incredible and I am very happy that most of the movie wasn't filmed in the dark which seems to have become the habit of Hollywood these past few years.

It is sad to see Matt Damon growing old but he still did a great job, I wonder how long he's going to be able to keep up doing physically demanding roles. If I am totally honest I would have liked the movie with a younger man in the lead role, that would have been a little more believable to me.

I totally recommend this movie, it has fantasy, action a tiny bit of romance so your girl can appreciate it, most of all it raises a lot of emotion. There were several times during the movie I was on the edge of my seat holding my breath anticipating the next moment.