To keep them out, and to protect the mainland from their onslaught, that, the movie says, was the real reason behind the Wall’s erection. The whole thing revolves around the fantastic idea that every 60 years, a horde of mythical beasts known as the Tao Tei attack China. Their quest for a mysterious item known as ‘black powder’ lands them at the foot of The Great Wall, where they are immediately arrested for trespassing.Īt the centre of this movie, Zhang’s first in the English language, is a knockout of a concept. Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal (you remember him, and the unfortunate fate of his eyes, from Game of Thrones) play a couple of mercenaries of hazy nationality who find themselves in medieval China. It is the only thing that elevates The Great Wall from an ambitious, yet clichéd action film into what turned out to be a surprisingly intricate, visually breathtaking monster movie: Director Zhang Yimou.Īlso, yes it’s a monster movie. The Great Wall opens in theaters on February 17, 2017.The similarities, heavy as they may be – they’re both historical fantasies set in a far-eastern land, they’re both distributed by the same studio, and both films star a famous Hollywood actor as a (and this is problematic) white saviour character – are rather harmless, and thankfully very superficial. As we've said many times before, and we'll say again and again - say it, all together now - you can set a story anywhere in the world, in any era of history, and Hollywood will still somehow find a way for the movie to star a white guy. 'It was already very clear in the script phase.' And a Hollywood blockbuster needs a white guy.Īnd so, Matt Damon. 'First and foremost, this is an English-language film, and a Hollywood blockbuster,' Zhang tells Entertainment Weekly. But it's definitely a Hollywood blockbuster, written by Hollywood screenwriters, in English. It should be noted that this movie was made with Chinese money, and is the work of one of the most celebrated Chinese directors. Well, what is there to say? It's the latest movie in the grand cinematic tradition of the Special White Person. Yes, a thousand years ago, Jason Friggin' Bourne saved the Chinese from dragons.ĭirected by Zhang Yimou, and touted as the most expensive Chinese movie of all time, the movie stars a long-haired Matt Damon alongside Chinese superstars like Andy Lau, Luhan and Jing Tian, in a crazy-ass smoke and spears and fire and arrows battle on the Great Wall against fire-breathing dragons. Behold, the trailer for The Great Wall, a fantasy action monster movie about an epic battle against dragons in ancient China.

It turns out the Great Wall of China was erected to keep out dragons. The latest movie in the grand cinematic tradition of the Special White Person.

The great wall movie monster